An error is a mistake.
You can say that something is done in error. This is a fairly formal use.
In conversation, you usually say that something is done by mistake.
Noun | 1. | ![]() nonaccomplishment, nonachievement - an act that does not achieve its intended goal blot, smirch, smear, stain, spot - an act that brings discredit to the person who does it; "he made a huge blot on his copybook" mix-up, confusion - a mistake that results from taking one thing to be another; "he changed his name in order to avoid confusion with the notorious outlaw" incursion - the mistake of incurring liability or blame distortion - the mistake of misrepresenting the facts parapraxis, slip-up, miscue, slip - a minor inadvertent mistake usually observed in speech or writing or in small accidents or memory lapses etc. offside - (sport) the mistake of occupying an illegal position on the playing field (in football, soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, etc.) |
2. | error - inadvertent incorrectness incorrectness, wrongness - the quality of not conforming to fact or truth deviation - the error of a compass due to local magnetic disturbances | |
3. | error - a misconception resulting from incorrect information misconception - an incorrect conception | |
4. | ![]() failure - an act that fails; "his failure to pass the test" baseball, baseball game - a ball game played with a bat and ball between two teams of nine players; teams take turns at bat trying to score runs; "he played baseball in high school"; "there was a baseball game on every empty lot"; "there was a desire for National League ball in the area"; "play ball!" | |
5. | error - departure from what is ethically acceptable | |
6. | ![]() computer science, computing - the branch of engineering science that studies (with the aid of computers) computable processes and structures hardware error - error resulting from a malfunction of some physical component of the computer programming error, software error - error resulting from bad code in some program involved in producing the erroneous result algorithm error - error resulting from the choice of the wrong algorithm or method for achieving the intended result | |
7. | error - part of a statement that is not correct; "the book was full of errors" misstatement - a statement that contains a mistake corrigendum - a printer's error; to be corrected erratum, literal, literal error, misprint, typo, typographical error - a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind |