err
/ɛɚ/verb, interjection
err is spelled E-R-R: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “err vs error” about 30 times a month (Bing, United States). As a verb, err means “To make a mistake” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in err?
| Letters | 3: E-R-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,342nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is err?
Err appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce err?
- UK /ɜː/
- US /ɛɚ/
- US /ɝ/
Err has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-err.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with err
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: e'er, er, ere (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with err?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as err from its last stressed vowel (/ɛəɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of err
- errs present, singular, he/she/it
- erring participle, present
- erred participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does err mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To make a mistake.
He erred in his calculations, and made many mistakes.
- 2
To sin.
To err is human, to forgive, divine.
- 3
archaicto stray.
interjection
- 1
Elongated form of er (“sound of hesitation”).
Err... what did you just say?
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Err in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense make a mistake:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | se tromper, errer |
| German | irren, sich irren, Fehler machen |
| Portuguese | errar |
| Spanish | errar, equivocarse, marrar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does err come from?
From Middle English erren, from Old French errer (“to wander, err, mistake”), from Latin errō (“wander, stray, err, mistake”, verb), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to be angry, lose one's temper”). Cognate with Old English eorre, ierre (“anger, wrath, ire”), Old English iersian (“to be angry with, rage, irritate, provoke”), Old English ierre (“wandering, gone astray, confused”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What to look up after err
- err or error? the difference
- ere or err? the difference
- air or err? the difference
- are rhymes with err
- care rhymes with err
- erotomania the entry before
- errand the entry after
- English words starting with E the most written first
- Misspellings people search
- Count the syllables of any word
- Check the spelling of a text