誤る

誤る

Japanese

Kanji in this term
誤
あやま Grade: 6
kun’yomi

Alternative forms

• 謬る

Etymology

Ultimately from Old Japanese. Appears in sources at least as old as 889 CE.[1]

This was originally just the intransitive counterpart to transitive verb ayamatsu (spelled either 過つ or 誤つ).[1] Both may derive from classical verb ayamu (spelled either 怪む or 危む), itself derived from stem aya related to ideas of danger, as in terms 危うい (ayaui, “risky, dangerous”), 怪しい (ayashii, “questionable, dubious; clumsy, awkward; foreboding (in a bad way); mysterious, bewitching”).

Pronunciation

• Kun’yomi
  • (Tokyo) あやま​る [àyámáꜜrù] (Nakadaka – [3])[2]
  • IPA^(key): [a̠ja̠ma̠ɾɯ̟ᵝ]

Verb

誤る (intransitive, godan conjugation, hiragana あやまる, rōmaji ayamaru)

1. to make a mistake, to err

   誤 (あやま)るのが人 (にん)間 (げん)である。

   Ayamaru no ga ningen de aru.

   To err is human

2. to become in a bad mood, to become troubled or despondent
3. to be unreasonable or irregular

誤る (transitive, godan conjugation, hiragana あやまる, rōmaji ayamaru)

1. to mistake one thing for another
2. to choose in the wrong direction

   身 (み)を誤 (あやま)る

   mi o ayamaru

   to mistake one's self → to go astray, to go bad

3. to deceive someone, to lead astray

   人 (ひと)を誤 (あやま)る、人 (ひと)を誤 (あやま)る言 (げん)動 (どう)

   hito o ayamaru, hito o ayamaru gendō

   to lead someone astray, words and actions that lead someone astray

4. to take something through deception, to deceive someone of something

   人 (ひと)の金 (かね)をあやまり

   hito no kane o ayamari

   deceiving people of their money

5. to break a promise, to break one's word

   契 (ちぎ)れること誤 (あやま)れる人 (ひと)に

   chigireru koto ayamareru hito ni

   to a person who could break what they would promise

Conjugation

Conjugation of "誤る" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	誤ら	あやまら	ayamara
Continuative (連用形)	誤り	あやまり	ayamari
Terminal (終止形)	誤る	あやまる	ayamaru
Attributive (連体形)	誤る	あやまる	ayamaru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	誤れ	あやまれ	ayamare
Imperative (命令形)	誤れ	あやまれ	ayamare
Key constructions
Passive	誤られる	あやまられる	ayamarareru
Causative	誤らせる 誤らす	あやまらせる あやまらす	ayamaraseru ayamarasu
Potential	誤れる	あやまれる	ayamareru
Volitional	誤ろう	あやまろう	ayamarō
Negative	誤らない	あやまらない	ayamaranai
Negative continuative	誤らず	あやまらず	ayamarazu
Formal	誤ります	あやまります	ayamarimasu
Perfective	誤った	あやまった	ayamatta
Conjunctive	誤って	あやまって	ayamatte
Hypothetical conditional	誤れば	あやまれば	ayamareba

References

1. 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN