dĕ-erro (in the poets dissyllabic, Lucr. 1, 711; Verg. E. 7, 7 al.), āvi, ātum, 1, v. n., to wander away, stray, go astray, go the wrong way, lose one’s way (rare, but class.).
- I. Lit.: deerrare a patre, Plaut. Men. 5, 9, 54 (for which aberrare a patre, id. ib. prol. 31): qui in itinere deerravissent, * Cic. Ac. Fragm. ap. Lact. 6, 24; for which itinere, Quint. 10, 3, 29: vir gregis ipse caper deerraverat, * Verg. E. 7, 7: equi deerantes via, Sen. Hippol. 1070.
- b. Of inanimate subjects, Lucr. 3, 873: jaculantium ictus deerraturos negant, Plin. 28, 8, 27, § 100: si potus cibusve in alienum deerravit tramitem, id. 11, 37, 66, § 176.
- II. Trop., to err, stray, deviate: magnopere a vero, Lucr. 1, 712: ab eo quod coeperimus exponere, Auct. Her. 1, 9, 14: verbis, Quint. 12, 10, 64: significatione, id. 1, 5, 46: quia sors deerrabat ad parum idoneos, fell upon improper persons, Tac. A. 13, 29.
Pass. impers.: ubi semel recto deerratum est, Vell. 2, 3 fin.
Absol.: multos enim deerrasse memoria prodidit, Col. 1, 4, 6; Quint. 11, 2, 32.