In*ac"cu*ra*cy (?), n.; pl. Inaccuracies (&?;).

1. The quality of being inaccurate; want of accuracy or exactness.

2. That which is inaccurate or incorrect; mistake; fault; defect; error; as, in inaccuracy in speech, copying, calculation, etc.

• lack of total accuracy, with an assumption of general accuracy. For example, a press report of a riot may contain inaccuracies regarding the exact sequence of events, although it is in the main correct. A totalitarian government may physically attack a group of its opponents, and issue reports claiming that the opponents initiated the attack. This is false, untrue, erroneous, rather than inaccurate.
  
• in measurements, inaccuracy could be due to incorrect calibration of a measuring device, or incorrect use. Lack of precision due to the limitations of the device would not be called inaccuracy, but an error of measurement, which can be allowed for using the mathematical theory of errors. If we measure a duration of time which is actually 123.56789 seconds with an accurate stopwatch, we may say that the measured time is 123.6 seconds with an error of plus or minus 0.1 second; there is no inaccuracy. If the stopwatch runs fast, the result may be stated as 134.1 plus or minus 0.1, but it will be inaccurate.