inadvertent incorrectness
"The typo in his email was an error caused by him accidentally hitting the wrong key on his keyboard."
a misconception resulting from incorrect information
"The team's entire project was based on an error regarding the client's actual budget requirements."
departure from what is ethically acceptable
"The board decided to fire the manager after his latest error involved secretly embezzling funds from vulnerable employees."
(computer science) the occurrence of an incorrect result produced by a computer
"The program crashed after displaying an error where it calculated the wrong total for my order."
The state, quality, or condition of being wrong.
"The error in my calculations caused the entire project budget to be off by thousands."
In plain English: An error is a small mistake that happens when you do something wrong or make a bad choice.
"The calculation error caused the final bill to be much higher than expected."
Usage: Use "error" to describe a specific mistake or an incorrect action rather than the general state of being wrong. It typically refers to a tangible slip-up in judgment, calculation, or procedure that can be identified and corrected.
To function improperly due to an error, especially accompanied by error message.
"The printer stopped working and displayed a red error message on its screen after I tried to load the new paper tray."
In plain English: To make a mistake by doing something incorrectly.
"The computer program will error if you enter an invalid password."
Usage: Use "error" as a verb only when describing a system or device that malfunctions and displays a specific warning message; otherwise, use the noun "err" for making mistakes. In everyday conversation, it is far more common to say something "has an error" rather than saying it "errors."
The word "error" comes from the Latin verb errō, meaning "to wander." Its original sense of a mistake stems from this idea of wandering away from the correct path.