Meaning

noun a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention

noun inadvertent incorrectness

noun a misconception resulting from incorrect information

originFrom Middle English errour, from Anglo-Norman errour, borrowed from Old French error, from Latin error (“wandering about”, noun), derived from the verb errō (“to wander, to err”). Cognate with Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌴𐌹 (airzei, “error”), Gothic 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (airzjan, “to lead astray”). More at err. By surface analysis, err + -or (suffix forming nouns of quality, state, or condition).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0