errand

Etymology

From Middle English erande, erende, from Old English ǣrende, from Proto-West Germanic *ārundī (“message, errand”).

noun

1. A journey undertaken to accomplish some task.
   1. (literary or archaic) A mission or quest.
      Few have ever come hither through greater peril or on an errand more urgent. In this evil hour I have come on an errand over many dangerous leagues to Elrond: a hundred and ten days I have journeyed all alone. 1954, J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
   2. A mundane mission of no great consequence, concerning household or business affairs (dropping items by, doing paperwork, going to a friend's house, etc.)
      The errands before he could start the project included getting material at the store and getting the tools he had lent his neighbors.
      I'm going to town on some errands.
2. The purpose of such a journey.
3. An oral message trusted to a person for delivery.
   I had not taught thee then the alphabet Of flowers, how they, devicefully being set And bound up, might with speechless secrecy Deliver errands mutely and mutually. 1633, John Donne, Elegy VII

verb

1. (transitive) To send someone on an errand.
   All the servants were on holiday or erranded out of the house.
2. (intransitive) To go on an errand.
   She spent an enjoyable afternoon erranding in the city.