Error
ˈɛrər
Definitions
2 meaningsA mistake; something that is not correct.
ˈɛrər
An action or judgment that is mistaken or wrong.
The error in the calculation caused the project to fail.
💡 Simply: Imagine you're baking a cake and accidentally add salt instead of sugar. That's an error! It's when something goes wrong, like when you misspell a word or get a math problem wrong.
👶 For kids: When you do something wrong, like a boo-boo in your work.
More Examples
He admitted that he had made an error in his judgment.
The software displayed an error message.
How It's Used
"The program produced an error message."
"There was an error in the financial report."
A deviation from an expected or correct value or outcome.
ˈɛrər
The state or condition of having incorrect information.
The results are subject to a margin of error.
💡 Simply: When you're measuring something, like your height or the distance to the park, sometimes you can't get a perfect number. There's a little bit of 'error' which means you're close, but maybe not exactly on the dot.
👶 For kids: When you're not exactly right, like your guess isn't perfectly correct.
More Examples
Researchers are trying to reduce the error in their data.
There was a large error in the estimation.
How It's Used
"The margin of error in the survey was +/- 3%."
"The experiment was performed to minimize error."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Idioms & expressions
error on the side of caution
To act cautiously, even if it means being overcautious; to take the safer course of action.
"To avoid any problems, we decided to error on the side of caution and cancel the event."
From Latin *error* meaning 'a wandering, straying, mistake'.
Historically, 'error' was used in religious and philosophical contexts to refer to moral or intellectual deviation from truth. It gradually expanded to encompass mistakes in various domains.
Memory tip
Think of a typo—it's an error!
Word Origin
"wandering, straying, mistake"