lapsus linguae
UK/ˌlæpsəs ˈlɪŋɡwiː/
lapsus linguae noun: an inadvertent remark; a slip of the tongue.
Noun
lapsus linguae (plural lapsus linguae)
- An inadvertent remark; a slip of the tongue.
- a1789, Rev. Mr. Bramston, "The Art of Politics, in Imitation of Horace’s Art of Poetry", Epistle X in John Bell (ed.), Classical Arrangement of Fugitive Poetry, Volume V, John Bell (1789), page 112,
Is there a man on earth so perfect found, / Who ne’er mistook a word in sense or sound ? / Not... - ... a poor woman who owed one thousand piastres—about £30—rushed and seized hold of the coffin, but instead of saying, "God bless the Bey," she, by an unfortunate lapsus linguæ, exclaimed, "God do not bless the King," which slip is quite natural in the Arabic expression.1850, Moses Margoliouth, A pilgrimage to the land of my fathers
- a1789, Rev. Mr. Bramston, "The Art of Politics, in Imitation of Horace’s Art of Poetry", Epistle X in John Bell (ed.), Classical Arrangement of Fugitive Poetry, Volume V, John Bell (1789), page 112,
Forms of lapsus linguae
| plural | lapsus linguae |
|---|---|
| alternative form | lapsus linguæ |
Origin of lapsus linguae
From Latin lāpsus linguae (literally “slip or fault of the tongue”), from lāpsus (“fault”) and linguae (the genitive form of lingua (“tongue”)).
Questions about lapsus linguae
- What does lapsus linguae mean?
- Lapsus linguae means an inadvertent remark; a slip of the tongue.
- What part of speech is lapsus linguae?
- Lapsus linguae is a noun.
- How do you pronounce lapsus linguae?
- Lapsus linguae is pronounced /ˌlæpsəs ˈlɪŋɡwiː/ (UK).
- What is the plural of lapsus linguae?
- The plural of lapsus linguae is lapsus linguae.
Words near lapsus linguae in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lapsus linguae (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.
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Cite this entry: “lapsus linguae.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lapsus_linguae. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.