err

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err¹

  • /ɜː/ UK
  • /ɛɚ/ US
  • /ɝ/ US
  • /ɛɹ/ US
  • /ɛr/ Scotland
  • /øː/ New Zealand
  • /eː/
  • /ɛː/
  • /ɜː(ɹ)/

Sounds like (all non-US pronunciations, /ɝ/ US pronunciation:) er, (/ɛɚ/ US pronunciation, all fair–fur merger pronunciations:) air, are (“unit of measurement”), ayr, Ayr, e'er, ere, eyre, heir · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ), -ɛə(ɹ), -ɛr

Where it comes from

From Middle English erren, from Old French errer (“to wander, err, mistake”), from Latin errō (“wander, stray, err, mistake”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to be angry, lose one's temper”). Cognate with Old English eorre, ierre (“anger, wrath, ire”), Old English iersian (“to be angry with, rage, irritate, provoke”), Old English ierre (“wandering, gone astray, confused”).

verb errs · erring · erred

  1. formal, intransitive To make a mistake. He erred in his calculations, and made many mistakes.
  2. intransitive To sin. To err is human, to forgive, divine.
  3. archaic to stray.

err²

interjection

  1. Elongated form of er (“sound of hesitation”). Err... what did you just say?

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: mistake, stray, drift, slip, flub, blunder, bungle, mismanage, goof, misdo, mislead, misspeak, sin, misdirect, error, misdeal

Translations

Every language

verb make a mistake

Españolerrar, equivocarse, marrar
한국어잘못하다 jalmothada, 틀리다 teullida
日本語間違える machigaeru
中文犯錯 /犯错 fàncuò, 做錯 /做错 zuòcuò, 走眼 zǒuyǎn
हिन्दीग़लती करना ġaltī karnā
Portuguêserrar
Françaisse tromper, errer
Deutschirren, sich irren, Fehler machen
Italianoerrare, sbagliare
Românăgreși, se înșela
Русскийошиба́ться ošibátʹsja, ошиби́ться ošibítʹsja, допуска́ть оши́бку dopuskátʹ ošíbku, допусти́ть оши́бку dopustítʹ ošíbku, заблужда́ться zabluždátʹsja
Tiếng Việtphạm lỗi
العربيةغَلِطَ ḡaliṭa, أَخْطَأَ ʔaḵṭaʔa
עבריתשגה shagá

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MLA

"err." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/err. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

err. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/err

Chicago

"err." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/err.

BibTeX
@misc{err_2026,
  title = {err},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/err},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}