Word.ws English Dictionary

lapsus digitorum

UK/ˈlæpsəs.dɪdʒɪˈtɔːɹəm/

lapsus digitorum noun: a spelling error in signing.

Noun

lapsus digitorum (plural lapsus digitorum)

  1. (rare) A spelling error in signing.
    • We remember an instance of a little girl who had picked up the phrase “good-night” from the elder pupils, spelling each letter on her fingers, using it as they did, when bidding adieu to the teacher who conducted evening prayers; but she showed her misapprehension of its exact meaning, by saying...1864, The Reverend Samuel Smith, The Deaf and Dumb: Their Deprivation and Its Consequences; The Process of Their Education, With other Interesting Particulars, page 23

Forms of lapsus digitorum

plurallapsus digitorum

Origin of lapsus digitorum

Coined as an analogue of lapsus linguae for users of sign language from the Latin lāpsus (“a slipping or falling”) (lāpsūs in the plural) + digitōrum (“of fingers”), genitive plural form of digitus (“finger”) = “a slipping of fingers”; compare lapsus digiti.

Questions about lapsus digitorum

What does lapsus digitorum mean?
Lapsus digitorum means a spelling error in signing.
What part of speech is lapsus digitorum?
Lapsus digitorum is a noun.
How do you pronounce lapsus digitorum?
Lapsus digitorum is pronounced /ˈlæpsəs.dɪdʒɪˈtɔːɹəm/ (UK).
What is the plural of lapsus digitorum?
The plural of lapsus digitorum is lapsus digitorum.

Words near lapsus digitorum in the dictionary

  1. lapstreaks
  2. lapsus
  3. lapsus auris
  4. lapsus calami
  5. lapsus digiti
  6. lapsus digitorum
  7. lapsus linguae
  8. lapsus linguæ
  9. lapsus memoriae
  10. lapsus oculi
  11. lapsus pennæ

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: lapsus digitorum (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “lapsus digitorum.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lapsus_digitorum. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.