Errant
(Er"rant) a. [F. errant, p. pr. fr. OF. errer to travel, LL. iterare, fr. L. iter journey; confused somewhat
with L. errare to err. See Eyre, and cf. Arrant, Itinerant.]
1. Wandering; deviating from an appointed course, or from a direct path; roving.
Seven planets or errant stars in the lower orbs of heaven.
Sir T. Browne. 2. Notorious; notoriously bad; downright; arrant.
Would make me an errant fool.
B. Jonson. 3. (Eng. Law) Journeying; itinerant; - - formerly applied to judges who went on circuit and to bailiffs at
large. Mozley & W.
Errant
(Er"rant), n. One who wanders about. [Obs.] Fuller.
Errantia
(||Er*ran"ti*a) n. pl. [NL., fr. L. errare to wander. See Err.] (Zoöl.) A group of chætopod annelids,
including those that are not confined to tubes. See Chætopoda. [Written also Errantes.]
Errantry
(Er"rant*ry) n.
1. A wandering; a roving; esp., a roving in quest of adventures. Addison.
2. The employment of a knight-errant. Johnson.
Errata
(||Er*ra"ta) n. pl. [L.] See Erratum.
Erratic
(Er*rat"ic) a. [L. erraticus, fr. errare to wander: cf. F. erratique. See Err.]
1. Having no certain course; roving about without a fixed destination; wandering; moving; — hence, applied
to the planets as distinguished from the fixed stars.
The earth and each erratic world.
Blackmore. 2. Deviating from a wise of the common course in opinion or conduct; eccentric; strange; queer; as, erratic
conduct.
3. Irregular; changeable. "Erratic fever." Harvey.
Erratic blocks,
gravel, etc. (Geol.),
masses of stone which have been transported from their original
resting places by the agency of water, ice, or other causes. — Erratic phenomena, the phenomena
which relate to transported materials on the earth's surface.
Erratic
(Er*rat"ic), n.
1. One who deviates from common and accepted opinions; one who is eccentric or preserve in his intellectual
character.
2. A rogue. [Obs.] Cockeram.
3. (Geol.) Any stone or material that has been borne away from its original site by natural agencies; esp.,
a large block or fragment of rock; a bowlder.
In the plural the term is applied especially to the loose gravel and stones on the earth's surface, including
what is called drift.
Erratical
(Er*rat"ic*al) a. Erratic. — Er*rat"ic*al*ly, adv. — Er*rat"ic*al*ness, n.