Error /(?)/

Er·ror

Error

n.
  1. A wandering; a roving or irregular course. [Obs.]
    The rest of his journey, his error by sea.
  2. A wandering or deviation from the right course or standard; irregularity; mistake; inaccuracy; something made wrong or left wrong; as, an error in writing or in printing; a clerical error.
  3. A departing or deviation from the truth; falsity; false notion; wrong opinion; mistake; misapprehension.
    His judgment was often in error, though his candor remained unimpaired.
  4. A moral offense; violation of duty; a sin or transgression; iniquity; fault.
  5. The difference between the approximate result and the true result; -- used particularly in the rule of double position. (Math.)
  6. The difference between an observed value and the true value of a quantity. (Mensuration)
  7. A mistake in the proceedings of a court of record in matters of law or of fact. (Law.)
  8. A fault of a player of the side in the field which results in failure to put out a player on the other side, or gives him an unearned base. (Baseball)

Phrases & Compounds
Law of error
the law which expresses the relation between the magnitude of an error and the frequency with which that error will be committed in making a large number of careful measurements of a quantity.
Probable error
See under Probable.
Writ of error
an original writ, which lies after judgment in an action at law, in a court of record, to correct some alleged error in the proceedings, or in the judgment of the court.