erro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. n. and a. [root er-, to go; desiderative forms, ἔρχομαι (ἐρσκ-); and Lat. (ers-o) erro, to seek to reach; hence, to wander; cf. Germ. irren; Engl. err, etc., v. Curt. Gr. Etym. p. 546 sq.].
I Neutr.
A In gen.
1 Prop., to wander , to wander or stray about , to wander up and down , to rove (freq. and class.; cf. vagor, palor): propter te errans patria careo, Ter. Heaut. 257; cf.: cum vagus et exsul erraret, Cic. Clu. 62, 175: ignari hominumque locorumque Erramus vento huc et vastis fluctibus acti, Verg. A. 1, 333; cf. id. ib. 1, 32; 3, 200; Ov. M. 3, 175; id. F. 2, 335 et saep.: circum villulas nostras, Cic. Att. 8, 9, 3: pios per lucos, Hor. C. 3, 4, 7: inter audaces lupus errat agnos, id. ib. 3, 18, 13; cf. of beasts, id. S. 1, 8, 35; id. Epod. 2, 12; Verg. E. 1, 9; 2, 21; 6, 40; id. G. 4, 11 et saep.— Pass. impers. : male tum Libyae solis erratur in agris, Verg. G. 3, 249.—Prov.: in media luce errare, Sen. Ben. 5, 6, 3.—
b Transf., of inanimate things: (stellae) quae errantes et quasi vagae nominantur, Cic. Rep. 1, 14; so of the planets, id. N. D. 2, 20; 3, 20; id. Tusc. 1, 25, 62; Plin. 2, 6, 4, § 12; Vulg. Jud. 13; cf. of the motion of the stars in gen., Hor. Ep. 1, 12, 17: Cocytus errans flumine languido, id. C. 2, 14, 18; cf. Verg. G. 3, 14: errantesque per altum Cyaneae, Val. Fl. 4, 561: hic lintres errare videres, Ov. F. 2, 391: vidi ad frontem sparsos errare capillos, i. e. flying about , Prop. 2, 1, 7; cf. id. 2, 22, 9: errantia lumina, i. e. moving fitfully about , Prop. 3, 14, 27 (4, 13, 27 M.); cf. Stat. Th. 10, 150: pulmonibus errat Ignis edax, i. e. spreads , runs about , Ov. M. 9, 201 et saep.—
2 Trop., to wander , stray at random : ne vagari et errare cogatur oratio, Cic. de Or. 48, 209; cf.: errans et vaga sententia (opp. stabilis certaque), id. N. D. 2, 1, 2: eo fit, ut errem et vager latius, id. Ac. 2, 20, 66: ut ingredi libere, non ut licenter videatur errare, id. Or. 23, 77: errans opinio (opp. stabilis conscientia), id. Fin. 2, 22, 71: dubiis affectibus errat, Ov. M. 8, 473: ne tuus erret honos, be in doubt , uncertain , id. F. 1, 468; cf. id. ib. 3, 543.— Poet., with a rel.-clause : erro, quam insistas viam, I am uncertain , in doubt , Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 197; cf.: inter recens et vetus sacramentum, i. e. to hesitate , vacillate , Tac. H. 4, 58.—
B In partic., to miss the right way , to lose one's self , go astray (in the literal sense rarely, but in the trop. freq. and class.).
1 Lit.: homo qui erranti comiter monstrat viam, Enn. ap. Cic. Off. 1, 16, 51: errare viā, Verg. A. 2, 739: maledictus qui errare facit caecum in itinere, Vulg. Deut. 27, 18.—
2 Trop., to wander from the truth , to err , mistake : avius errat Saepe animus, Lucr. 3, 463; cf. id. 2, 740: totā erras viā, Ter. Eun. 245; cf.: in eo non tu quidem totā re, sed temporibus errasti, Cic. Phil. 2, 9 fin. : longe, Ter. Ad. 65; cf. procul, Sall. J. 85, 38 Kritz. N. cr. : errant probe, Plaut. Am. 3, 3, 20: vehementer, Cic. Ac. 2 ( Luc. ), 32, 103: valde, id. de Or. 2, 19, 83 et saep.: errare malo cum Platone quam cum istis vera sentire, Cic. Tusc. 1, 17, 39; cf. id. Balb. 28, 64: erras, si id credis, Ter. Heaut. 105; so with si , id. Hec. 682; Caes. B. G. 5, 41, 5; 7, 29, 2 et saep.: de nostris verbis errat, Ter. Heaut. 263: in aliqua re, Quint. 6, 3, 112; 10, 2, 21; 11, 1, 81 al.: in alteram partem, id. 10, 1, 26; cf.: in alienos fetus, Liv. 31, 12, 8.—Less freq. with acc. of a neutr. pronoun: mone, quaeso, si quid erro, Plaut. Most. 1, 3, 30; so with quid , Ter. And. 498; Quint. 2, 5, 16; 2, 3, 11; 2, 6, 6: hoc, Ter. Phorm. 804.—Poet. also with the acc. of a noun: errabant tempora, i. e. in chronology , Ov. F. 3, 155.— Pass. impers. : si fuit errandum, Ov. H. 7, 109: si nihil esset erratum, Quint. 6, 5, 7: si erratur in nomine, Cic. Fin. 4, 20 fin. ; cf.: tutius circa priores erratur, Quint. 2, 5, 26: uno verbo esse erratum, id. 7, 3, 17. —Sometimes, in a palliative manner, of moral error, to err through mistake : pariter te errantem et illum sceleratissimum persequi, Sall. J. 102, 5; cf. id. ib. 104, 4. —Hence,
b errātum , i, n., an error , mistake , fault : illud de Flavio et fastis, si secus est, commune erratum est, Cic. Att. 6, 1, 18; cf. id. ib. 13, 44 fin. : cujus errato nulla venia, recte facto exigua laus proponitur, id. Agr. 2, 2, 5; id. Fam. 5, 20, 8: nullum ob totius vitae non dicam vitium, sed erratum, id. Clu. 48; cf. id. Lig. 1; id. Sull. 23; and in plur., id. Fam. 16, 21, 2; Sall. J. 102, 10; Ov. P. 2, 3, 66.—
II Act. in Aug. poets (only in part. perf. ), to wander over or through : immensum est erratas dicere terras, Ov. F. 4, 573: ager, id. ib. 3, 655: orbis, Val. Fl. 4, 447: litora, Verg. A. 3, 690.