Dictionary

lapsus plumæ en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• lăpʹso͞os.plo͞oʹmē (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌlæpsuːsˈpluːmiː/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• lăpʹsəs.plo͞oʹmē (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˌlæpsəsˈpluːmiː/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

First attested in 1844; Latin: lāpsus (“a slipping”; in the plural lāpsūs, “slippings”, the nominative plural form of lāpsus) + plūmae (“of the feather or plume”, the genitive singular form of plūma, “feather”, “plume”) = “a slipping of the feather” ≈ “a lapse of the plume” ≈ “a slip of the quill”; compare lapsus linguae and the English-coined French phrase nom de plume.

Meanings

1. (formal) Synonym of slip of the pen.
   • When he came to a word like believe, he was cunning enough to write two ees, and put a dot just over the middle of them, leaving the reader to imagine that his error was the result of a mere lapsus plumæ. 1844, Suum Cuique [pseud.: Joseph Hewlett], “The Nice Young Man” in Hood’s Magazine and Comic Miscellany I, page 552
   • Near-synonyms: writo; miswriting; misprint; typo

Forms

Coordinates

speako · slip of the tongue · lapsus linguae · lapsus digitorum · lapsus digiti

Synonyms

miswriting · lapsus calami · typo · slip of the pen · misprint · writo