errant

Meaning

Adj

1. Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.
2. Roving around; wandering.
3. Prone to err or making errors; misbehaving.
4. (alt-of, obsolete) Obsolete form of arrant (“complete; downright, utter”).

Noun

A knight-errant.

Synonyms

wandering

vagrant

erratic

peripatetic

astray

roving

vagabond

planetary

erring

itinerant

Translations

errante

errante

errante

errant

λαθεμένος

maceraperest

περιπλανώμενος

serseri

dévoyé

errant

errans

umherreisend

dolend

irrend

ramingo

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɛɹ(ə)nt/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: erraunt

In summary

From Middle English erraunt [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer (“to walk (to); to wander (to); (figuratively) to travel, voyage”), and then:
* from Vulgar Latin iterāre (compare Late Latin itinerāre, itinerāri (“to travel, voyage”)), from Latin iter (“a route (including a journey, trip; a course; a path; a road)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”); and
* from Latin errantem, the accusative feminine or masculine singular of errāns (“straying, errant; wandering”), the present active participle of errō (“to rove, wander; to get lost, go astray; to err, wander from the truth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”).
Doublet of arrant.