lapsus

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɫaːp.sʊs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈlap.sus]^[1]

Forms

lāpsus m (genitive lāpsūs); fourth declension^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin lābor (“to slip, fall”) + -tus, an action noun.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is Afranius, of slipping and falling, and Köbler's earliest source is Cicero.^[2][3] Köbler dates Afranius to the second half of the 2nd century BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant slipping and falling, a fall; any smooth or gliding motion, as of stars and rivers; a fall from favour or rank; and in Cicero a falling into error, a failing, lapse.^[2][4]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it means falling, moral lapse, apostasy, and the passage of time.^[5] Medieval Latin used it for a fish trap, a slide and the slipping by of time.^[6] English lapse (mid-15th century) is from it through Old French, and German Lapsus “slip, error” is from it.^[7][3]

Timeline

• 2nd half of the 2nd century BC – Afranius uses it.^[2][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a fall from favour and of error.^[2][3]
• mid-15th century – English lapse is recorded.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A slipping, fall.^[2][8]
2. A gliding motion, flow.^[2][4]
3. A fall from favour.^[2]
4. A lapse, error, failing.^[2][5]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) Apostasy.^[5]

Related words

• lābor
• lābēs
• collāpsus
• English lapse

Usage notes

Niermeyer also records a second-declension noun lapsus, a lapsed Christian or heretic.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
5. ^ a b c Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
6. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press