syntax error
1
4.2
- noun
- /ˈsɪnˌtæks ˈɛrər/
- Specialized
:
error de sintaxis
- When I tried to run the program, I received a syntax error because I forgot to close the parentheses.
Examples
-
My own attempt, in Object Pascal, was successful, but the test program (that I wrote without testing as well) had a syntax error.
Blog text (20) -
A database query syntax error has occurred.
Blog text (7) -
Just that the Apache config is without syntax errors and Apache is able to start.
Blog text (19) -
This plug-in colors the program according to the game language's syntax instead of Racket's default rules, highlighting lexical syntax errors in red.
Academic text (2012) -
But it would be even nicer to have a separate syntax checker that would watch the filesystem; I save the file in my favorite editor, and a separate window shows me the list of syntax errors.
Blog text (8) -
They found that the queries of subjects using the relational representation contained fewer syntax errors but required more time than the same queries developed by subjects using the E-R representation.
Academic text (1993) -
The compiler flagged a syntax error in my code, indicating that I had incorrectly used the if statement.
-
To fix the syntax error, I had to check the line where the missing semicolon was located.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'syntax' (rules for structure) with 'error' (a mistake), so it denotes a mistake in the structure of code or sentences. This noun–noun composition follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents should be able to infer the intended meaning even if the domain is technical.
Etymology
Syntax error comes from comparing computer code to a normal language. If the syntax, or the code's grammar, is wrong, the computer shows an error, so the phrase means 'an error in code that does not follow the language rules'.