What does errant mean?
"Errant" is an adjective describing something that has strayed from its intended course, path, or accepted standards. It is commonly applied to physical objects that go where they should not — an errant golf ball, an errant missile, an errant email sent to the wrong recipient — as well as to behaviour that deviates from what is proper, as in "errant conduct." A second, more literary sense survives in the phrase "knight-errant," referring to a medieval knight who roamed the land in search of adventure and chivalrous deeds. The word derives ultimately from the Latin "errare," meaning "to wander," which also gives us "error" and "erratic." In modern usage "errant" carries a somewhat formal register and often a mildly critical or regretful connotation, suggesting that something has gone wrong through deviation rather than deliberate intent. Its near-homophone "arrant," once merely a spelling variant, now functions as an entirely separate intensifier meaning "utter" or "downright."
adjectiveErrant means straying from the proper course or standards, or wandering in search of adventure. It most often describes something that has gone wrong or off course — an errant pass, an errant golf ball — and can also evoke the chivalric idea of a knight-errant roaming on a quest.
- (of something that should follow a fixed path or standard) straying, going astray, or deviating from what is correct or expected.
- (chiefly in "knight-errant") roving or travelling in search of adventure.
"The referee stopped play after an errant throw struck a spectator."
"A single errant keystroke deleted the entire file."
"In the romances, the knight-errant wanders the countryside seeking quests to prove his valour."
The "errant" in "knight-errant" and the "error" in your spreadsheet are cousins — both trace back to the Latin for "to wander."
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of errant
"Errant" comes from the Old French "errant," the present participle of "errer," meaning "to wander or travel," itself derived from the Latin "errare," "to stray or wander." It entered English in the Middle Ages alongside the chivalric tradition of the knight-errant, a roaming adventurer of romance literature. Over time the word's sense narrowed from literal wandering to figurative deviation from a proper course or standard. It shares this Latin root with "error," "erratic," and "aberration."
How errant is actually used
"Errant" is largely formal or literary in tone. In everyday use it appears most often before nouns describing things that have gone off course (a ball, bullet, email, or pass). The chivalric sense survives almost exclusively in the fixed phrase "knight-errant."
Easily confused with errant
"Arrant" is now used only as an intensive meaning "complete" or "thorough" (as in "an arrant fool"), whereas "errant" means straying or wandering; the two were historically variant spellings of the same word.