Definition

to miss the mark, i.e. (figuratively) deviate from truth

Etymology

from a compound of G1 (Α) (as a negative particle) and (an aim);

Where the KJV renders it

• err
• swerve

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Greek term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.