LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · masculinefourth declension

lāpsus

lāpsus m (genitive lāpsūs)
Classical[ˈɫaːp.sʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈlap.sus]

Meaning

  1. gliding, sliding, slipping, falling
    At geminī lāpsū dēlūbra ad summa dracōnēs / effugiunt [...].“But the two serpents escape by gliding [off] to the highest temples [of Troy…].” [An escape “with a smooth motion”; translated above as if it were a participle.]29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.225–226
  2. fluid motion in a path, circuit, or course
    [...,] cum mediō volvuntur sīdera lāpsū, / [...].[…,] when the stars are turning in their midnight course, ….29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.524
  3. in pluralof the effects of a fall
    77 CE – 79 CE, Plinius Maior, Naturalis Historia 22.43
  4. figurativelya failing, error, fault
    c. 203 BCE, Plautus, Cistellaria 2.1.11
    45 BCE, Cicero, Academica 1.12.45

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativelāpsuslāpsūs
genitivelāpsūslāpsuum
dativelāpsuīlāpsibus
accusativelāpsumlāpsūs
ablativelāpsūlāpsibus
vocativelāpsuslāpsūs

lapsus, a, um, Part., from 1. labor.
lapsus, ūs, m. 1. labor,
I. a falling, fall; a slipping, sliding, gliding, running, flowing, flying, flight, etc. (class.).
I. Lit.: ac celeri ferme percurrunt fulmina lapsu, Lucr. 6, 324: atque ea, quae lapsu tandem cecidere vetusto, Cic. poët. Div. 1, 11, 19: infrenis equi lapsu jacens, Verg. A. 10, 750: tum quassao nutant turres, lapsumque minantur, Luc. 6, 136: horrere lapsus tectorum assiduos, Juv. 3, 8.—Of a landslide: locus recenti lapsu terrae abruptus, Liv. 21, 36, 2: lapsu scalarum exanimatus, by falling down stairs, Plin. 7, 37, 37, § 124: ut neque sustinere se a lapsu possent, Liv. 21, 35 fin.: puerilium dentium, the shedding, Sen. Ben. 4, 6, 6: si lacus emissus lapsu et cursu suo ad mare profluxisset, Cic. Div. 1, 44, 100: (stellae) certo lapsu spatioque feruntur, course, id. ib. 1, 11, 17; cf.: medio volvuntur sidera lapsu, Verg. A. 4, 524: molli zephyros descendere lapsu adspiciunt, Val. Fl. 1, 686: accepere deae, celerique per aethera lapsu, periere, etc., id. 1, 91: volucrum lapsus, flight, Cic. N. D. 2, 39, 99; cf.: facili lapsu ad deos pervolare, id. Fragm. ap. Lact. 3, 18 (19), 6: gemini lapsu delubra ad summa dracones Effugiunt, Verg. A. 2, 225: vitis serpens multiplici lapsu et erratico, Cic. de Sen. 15, 52: rotarum, i. e. rolling wheels, Verg. A, 2, 236 (cf. τροχῶν βάσεις, Soph. Elect. 718; and remigium alarum = alae, Verg. A. 1, 301): arte materna rapidos morantem Fluminum lapsus, i. e. flumina, Hor. C. 1, 12, 10. —
B. Transf., of the effects of a fall; in plur.: contra ulcera, rupta, lapsusque, bruises, contusions received in falling, Plin. 22, 17, 20, § 43.—
II. Trop., a failing, error, fault (rare but class.): amor lapsum animi ludificat, Plaut. Cist. 2, 1, 11: ab omni lapsu continere temeritatem, to restrain one's rashness in believing from leading him into error, Cic. Ac. 1, 12, 45: cum sint populares multi variique lapsus, of losing popularity, id. de Or. 2, 83, 339: haud alius fidei pronior lapsus, quam ubi, etc., Plin. 5, 1, 1, § 12.

Origins

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)leh₂b-der.?
  2. Latinlāpsus

Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin lāpsus From lābor (“to slip”) + -tus (forming action noun).

Elsewhere
  • Catalanlapsus
  • Englishlapsus
  • Frenchlaps
  • Frenchlapsus
  • Italianlapsus
  • Englishlapsefrom Middle French laps
  • Portugueselapso
  • Spanishlapsus
  • Bulgarianла́псус
  • Czechlapsus
Serbo-Croatian
  • Cyrillic scriptла̀псус
  • Latin scriptlàpsus

Quick answers

What does lāpsus mean in Latin?
lāpsus, a noun, means “gliding, sliding, slipping, falling; fluid motion in a path, circuit, or course; of the effects of a fall”.
What is the genitive of lāpsus?
The genitive singular is lāpsūs. lāpsus is masculine, fourth declension.
How do you pronounce lāpsus?
In classical Latin, [ˈɫaːp.sʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈlap.sus].
Where does lāpsus come from?
Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b-der.? → Latin lāpsus.