# errant

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈɛɹ(ə)nt/ · frequency rank #32,380

## Definitions
1. Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.
2. Roving around; wandering.
3. Prone to erring or making errors; misbehaving.
4. Obsolete form of arrant (“complete; downright, utter”).

## Etymology
From Middle English erraunt [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer (“to walk (to); to wander (to); (figuratively) to travel, voyage”), and then:
* from Vulgar Latin iterāre (compare Late Latin itinerāre, itinerāri (“to travel, voyage”)), from Latin iter (“a route (including a journey, trip; a course; a path; a road)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”); and
* from Latin errantem, the accusative feminine or masculine singular of errāns (“straying, errant; wandering”), the present active participle of errō (“to rove, wander; to get lost, go astray; to err, wander from the truth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”).
Doublet of arrant.

## Easily confused with
- **extant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/errant-vs-extant)
- **errand** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/errand-vs-errant)
- **entrant** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/entrant-vs-errant)

## Common misspellings (7)
`erant`, `erarnt`, `errannt`, `errantt`, `erratn`, `errnat`, `rerant`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/errant