One reference differentiates between error and mistake as follows: An 'error' is a deviation from accuracy or correctness. A 'mistake' is an error caused by a fault: the fault being misjudgment, carelessness, or forgetfulness. error, mistake, blunder, slip, lapse mean a departure from what is true, right, or proper. error suggests the existence of a standard or guide and a straying from the right course through failure to make effective use of this. An error may also be an exception, which is something that happens unexpectedly. For example, it is an error to try to write more files onto a disk that is full. ERROR definition: a deviation from accuracy or correctness; a mistake, as in action or speech. See examples of error used in a sentence. ERROR definition: 1. a mistake: 2. a wrong decision: 3. to understand that you were wrong to behave in a particular…. Learn more. To see, recognize, acknowledge, etc., the error of your ways is to admit that you have been doing something wrong or behaving badly and to stop doing it. Congress recognized the error of its ways and repealed the law. He publicly acknowledged the error of his ways and asked for forgiveness. Calculate percent error given estimated or experimental values and theoretical actual values. Calculator shows work and calculates absolute error and relative error. Simply put, an error is a mistake. However, that mistake is more likely due to a lapse in judgment or skill than to an accident. A plane crash that occurs after the pilot mistakenly presses the pilot eject button is said to be caused by human error. An error is something you have done which is considered to be incorrect or wrong, or which should not have been done. 1. a deviation from accuracy or correctness; mistake. 2. the holding of mistaken opinions. 3. the condition of believing what is not true: I was in error about the date. 4. a moral offense. 5. a baseball misplay allowing a batter to reach base or a runner to advance.