errant
Contents
English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
- erraunt (obsolete)
Etymology[edit]
From Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, from Latin errans (“wandering”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
errant (comparative more errant, superlative most errant)
- Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.
- Sir Thomas Browne
- seven planets or errant stars in the lower orbs of heaven
- Sir Thomas Browne
- Wandering; roving around.
- Prone to making errors; misbehaved.
- We ran down the street in pursuit of the errant dog.
- (proscribed) Utter, complete (negative); arrant.
- Ben Jonson
- would make me an errant fool
- Ben Jonson
Usage notes[edit]
Sometimes arrant (“utter, complete”) is considered simply an alternative spelling and pronunciation of errant, though most authorities distinguish them, reserving errant to mean “wandering” and using it after the noun it modifies, notably in “knight errant”, while using arrant to mean “utter”, in a negative sense, and before the noun it modifies, notably in “arrant knaves”.
Etymologically, arrant arose as a variant of errant, but the meanings have long since diverged. Both terms are primarily used in set phrases (which may be considered cliché), and are easily confused, and on that basis some authorities suggest against using either.
Synonyms[edit]
- (utter, complete): arrant (generally distinguished; see usage)
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Noun[edit]
errant (plural errants)
References[edit]
- “arrant/errant”, Common Errors in English Usage, Paul Brians
- On Language: Arrant Nonsense, William Safire, January 22, 2006, New York Times
- Merriam–Webster’s dictionary of English usage, 1995, “errant, arrant”, pp. 406–407
Anagrams[edit]
French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old French errant, from Latin errāns, errāntem.
Verb[edit]
errant
Adjective[edit]
errant (feminine singular errante, masculine plural errants, feminine plural errantes)
Further reading[edit]
- “errant” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Anagrams[edit]
Latin[edit]
Verb[edit]
errant
Old French[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Present participle of errer (“to wander”), from Latin iterō (“I travel; I voyage”) rather than from errō, which is the ancestor of the other etymology of error (“to err; to make an error”).
Adjective[edit]
errant m (oblique and nominative feminine singular errant or errante)
- wandering; nomadic
- 12th century CE, Thomas de Kent, Roman de toute chevalerie [Roman of all chivalry], translation of Alexander romance; republished as B. Foster, with the assistance of I. Short, editor, The Anglo-Norman 'Alexander', London: Anglo-Norman Text Society, 1976, ANTS 29-31 (1976), and 32-33 (1977):
- si est un pople qe n’est mie erranz; Ja n'istra de son regne
- If it's a people that is not nomadic, it will never leave his kingdom
Descendants[edit]
- English terms derived from Anglo-Norman
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with homophones
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English disputed terms
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- French terms derived from Old French
- French terms derived from Latin
- French non-lemma forms
- French present participles
- French lemmas
- French adjectives
- Latin non-lemma forms
- Latin verb forms
- Old French terms derived from Latin
- Old French lemmas
- Old French adjectives
- English terms with quotations