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err

Syllabification: (err)

Pronunciation: /ər, er/

Definition of err

[no object] formal

be mistaken or incorrect; make a mistake:the judge had erred in ruling that the evidence was inadmissible
(often as adjective erring) sin; do wrong:the erring brother who had wrecked his life

Phrases

err on the right side: act so that the least harmful of possible mistakes or errors in is the most likely to occur.
err on the side of: display more rather than less of (a specified quality) in one’s actions:it is better to err on the side of caution
to err is human, to forgive divine: proverb it is human nature to make mistakes oneself while finding it hard to forgive others.

Middle English (in the sense 'wander, go astray'): from Old French errer, from Latin errare 'to stray'

Traditionally, errrhymes with her, although the pronunciation that rhymes with hair is now common.

Definition of err in the British & World English dictionary

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