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errant

 [er-uhnt]   Example Sentences Origin

er·rant

   [er-uhnt]
adjective
1.
deviating from the regular or proper course; erring; straying.
2.
journeying or traveling, as a medieval knight in quest of adventure; roving adventurously.
3.
moving in an aimless or lightly changing manner: an errant breeze.
Origin:
1300–50; Middle English erraunt < Middle French, Old French errant, present participle of errer, edrer to travel < Vulgar Latin *iterāre to journey, for Late Latin itinerārī, derivative of iter, stem itiner- journey (see itinerary); confused with Middle French errant, present participle of errer to err

Related forms
er·rant·ly, adverb
non·er·rant, adjective
non·er·rant·ly, adverb
un·er·rant, adjective
un·er·rant·ly, adverb

Can be confused: arrant, errant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Errant is an SAT word you need to know.
So is regnant. Does it mean:
to walk about or move from place to place
prevalent
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Example Sentences
  • Simply catch any errant spider in a jar or cup and put it outside.
  • She will be the most famous jailbird created during America's current campaign to bring errant executives to justice.
  • His mission is to get his errant father Jim to return home to his family.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
errant (ˈɛrənt)
 
—adj
1.  archaic, literary or wandering in search of adventure
2.  erring or straying from the right course or accepted standards
 
[C14: from Old French: journeying, from Vulgar Latin iterāre (unattested), from Latin iter journey; influenced by Latin errāre to err]
 
'errantly
 
—adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

errant
mid-14c., from Anglo-Fr. erraunt, from two O.Fr. words that were confused even before they reached English: 1. O.Fr. errant, prp. of errer "to travel or wander," from L.L. iterare, from L. iter "journey, way," from root of ire "to go" (see ion); 2. O.Fr. errant, pp. of errer
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(see err). Much of the sense of the latter has gone with English arrant.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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