errant

 
Pronunciation: /ˈɛr(ə)nt/

adjective

  • 1 formal or humorous erring or straying from the accepted course or standards: an errant husband coming back from a night on the tiles
  • not in the right place; having moved from the correct position or course: an errant strand of hair fear of being hit by an errant bullet
  • 2 [often postpositive] archaic or literary travelling in search of adventure: that same lady errantSee also knight errant
  • 3 Zoology (of a polychaete worm) of a predatory kind that moves about actively and is not confined to a tube or burrow.

Derivatives

errancy

noun
errant (sense 1)

errantry

noun
errant (sense 2)

Origin:

Middle English (in errant (sense 2)): errant (sense 1) from Latin errant- 'erring', from the verb errare; errant (sense 2) from Old French errant 'travelling', present participle of errer, from late Latin iterare 'go on a journey', from iter 'journey'. Compare with arrant