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.