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Is it human to err?
Many people are familiar with the word err from encountering it in the epigram “to err is human; to forgive, divine.” This phrase is found in Alexander Pope’s An Essay on Criticism, from 1711. Earlier expressions of the same sentiment exist, as in Thomas Jones’ 1678 book, Of the Heart, and its Right Soveraign, which contains the line “to err, is human, to recover, is Angelical; to persevere is Diabolical.”
Err is also often found in the phrase err on the side of caution, to suggest that being overly cautious is better than not being cautious enough.
Err stems from the Latin word errare, meaning “to stray, wander,” and it retained that meaning when it first entered English. We find the same Latin ancestor at the root of the words error, erratic, and erroneous.
Examples of err in a Sentence
Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 28 June 2025
Harvard is too hubristic, too fat and prosperous, too insular, too aloof, and too dogmatic to admit that it’s erred ...
—Brian T. Allen, National Review, 28 June 2025
The training has been mandated by the state, which recently determined that the district erred in its initial assessment of the incident.
—Keri Brenner, Mercury News, 23 May 2025
Machado committed three errors, Jake Cronenworth bobbled a ball that might have prevented a run and helped end the carnage earlier in the seventh and Jose Iglesias erred in the eighth.
—Kevin Acee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for err
Cite this Entry
“Err.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/err. Accessed 19 Jul. 2025.
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err
intransitive verb
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