what is the difference between: error and mistake?

Question

Is there any difference between: error and mistake?

What you did by not capitalizing the title question is a mistake because you know the right way to do it. An error does not refer to fore-knowledge - 002262dd, Jan 3, 2011

Answer 1

The difference is not significant enough to worry about. Mistake is a bit more of an informal word for error.

Answer 2

My mother told me she made a mistake , and the result was me, an error of judgment.

Lol. - Deanski, Jan 3, 2011

Answer 3

The biggest difference is that "error" is a noun, and "mistake" can be used as a noun or as a verb.

A mistake is an error in judgement, and the likely cause of an error.

An error is the problem that results from a mistake.

Example:

"John thought it was a mistake to use so much ink. The printer now has errors."

We might as well add the verb "err", the act of making a error/mistake :) - Goldie_Miel, Jan 3, 2011

Answer 4

Not really. Both can be used interchangeably but error is a bit more formal than mistake.

Error sound more formal because it has French/Latin origin, and Mistake does not. This sense of formality occurs a lot in English. Another example: Rendezvous vs. Meet. - pesta, Jan 2, 2011

Answer 5

Error goes better with passive voice because mistake is plainer English and passive voice is often used to hide facts. To tell someone they are mistaken sounds less harsh than telling them they're wrong. I've never heard of anyone being told they are erroneous. Only information is erroneous.

Answer 6

I think I have never seen a "mistake" when a PC fails. I remember I used to see "an error has occurred"

a fatal error! - fatchocobo, Jan 3, 2011