laps-, lab-

(Latin: to slip, to fall; to glide)

laps, laps, lapse, lapse, Lapps, elapse, relapse
laps (LAPS) (noun)
1. The flat spots created when people are seated which are formed by the tops of the thighs and the upright portions of the abdomen: The children sat in a circle on the rug with a toy on their laps.
2. The distance covered, as on a racecourse: Leonar ran three laps around the track before tripping and falling down just before the finish line.
laps (LAPS) (verb)
1. To overlay two surfaces in such a manner that there is little or no space between them: The roofer carefully laps the new shingles so the rain will not get in.
3. To move food or liquid to the mouth using the tongue: The dog laps the water quickly because it is very thirsty.
lapse (LAPS) (noun)
An error usually caused by forgetfulness: Mildred's lapse of memory seemed to be caused by her illness over several months.
lapse (LAPS) (verb)
1. To end protection or coverage in an insurance policy due to lack of payment: Mike's health care plan is about to lapse, so he thinks he'd better send a check right away.
2. To subside or to sink away gradually from a typical pattern of belief or behavior: Brittney was ill and slowly began to lapse into a coma.
Lapps (LAPS) (noun)
People who live in the Northern Scandinavian countries, Finland, and Northern Russia who were historically known as nomadic hunters: During Trina's circumpolar travels, she noticed that the Lapps wore warm and colorful clothing during the winter.
elapse (i LAPS) (noun)
A passage or gap in time between events: There was an elapse of ten years from the time Marvin left home until he decided to return.
relapse (ri LAPS) (noun)
A backsliding, recurrence, or worsening: Dr. Smith told her patient that she was experiencing a relapse of her former illness and should go to bed to rest.

At the international racing competition, the Lapps ran three consecutive laps when they only needed to run two laps; the runners later decided they had a slight lapse of memory about how many laps to run.

They were so tired that they sat on the benches with bottles of water on their laps and they joked that they hoped that they didn't have another relapse of memory or at least not until there was an elapse of several years.

lapsable, lapsible (adjective); more lapsable, more lapsible; most lapsable, most lapsible
1. Susceptible to a momentary fault or failure in behavior or morality: Meg's habit of brushing her teeth was quite lapsable at times and her dentist had to fill some cavities each time she went to see him.
2. Regarding a break in the continuity of something; Jim's attention in class turned out to be lapsable and he missed part of what his teacher was talking about.
3. A passage of time: Somehow there was a lapsable interval following the accident and Mary couldn't remember what had happened.
4. Liable to become null and void through disuse, negligence, or death: Chuck forgot that his membership was lapsible, and it expired at the end of the year.
lapse rate
The rate at which the temperature of the atmosphere falls as altitude increases.
lapsed
1. No longer committed to something, especially religious faith or observance.
2. Expired or terminated.
lapser (s), lapsers (pl) (noun forms)
1. A person who has a temporary failure; a slip.
2. Someone who has a decline or a fall in standards.
3. Pauses in continuity.
lapsus
From Latin, a slipping, a fall.
lapsus calami
1. A slip of the pen or an error in writing from Latin calamarius, "pertaining to a pen", from calamus, "reed, pen", from Greek kalamos.
2. A slip of the pen, an unintentional writing error; especially, in spelling taxonomic names.
lapsus linguae
Man has an embarrassing  lapsus linguae when introducing an obese lady.

A click on the image will take you to the series of illustrated quizzes which will appear in random order or you may click on this image quiz link.

An embarrassing example of lapsus linguae.


lapsus linguae
Slip of the tongue; from Latin lapsus, a slip; an error; chiefly used in Latin phrases. English pronunciation: LAP suhs LING gwee.
A man makes a bad slip of the tongue or lapsus linguae
Larry, this is Fattie; I mean, Hattie!

This shows that a lapsus linguae can be embarrassing, to say the least. The situation could also be considered a lapsus memoriae or a "lapse of memory".

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There is one more mental lapse, one that involves carelessness in writing: lapsus calami or a slip of the pen. The word calamus was a reed formerly used as a pen.

A lapsus linguae can result from laliophobia or lalophobia

In the world of human relations, a person can suffer from laliophobia (lalophobia); that is, a terror of talking or of stuttering when trying to talk.

An individual's speech difficulty may be aggravated by situations that arise from anxieties or fears of self-consciousness.

Of course, there is also the other condition called, lalomania, a compulsion or abnormal desire to talk excessively. Neither situation is considered desirable in human relations.


See this special presentation about public personalities who have committed various forms of lapsus linguae.

lapsus memoriae (s) (noun) (no plural)
A defect of the memory, sometimes considered to be a symptom of a mental illness: A lapsus memoriae is an involuntary mistake that is made while writing or speaking.

    In literature, a number of different types of lapsus memoriae are named depending on the mode of correspondence:

  1. lapsus linguae: a slip of the tongue.
  2. lapsus calami: a slip of the pen.
  3. With the variation of lapsus clavis: slip of the typewriter.

  4. lapsus manus: slip of the hand, similar to lapsus calami.
lilapsophobia (s) (noun) (no plural)
An exaggerated terror of tornadoes or hurricanes: Individuals who have experienced and survived a severe storm like a twister, sometimes suffer from a post-traumatic stress disorder and develop a lilapsophbia.
Meliorem lapsa locavit.
He has planted one better than the one fallen.

Motto on the Seal of the State of South Carolina, U.S.A., and on the Great Seal of the Northwest Territory, USA.

noncollapsable, noncollapsible (adjective) (not comparable)
Incapable of being folded together into a more convenient and compact shape: Some balcony chairs made of metal are noncollapsible and cannot be flattened in order to store them in the corner of the basement.
prolapse of the iris (noun)
The protrusion of the iris through an injury in the cornea of the eye.
prolapse, prolapses, prolapsed, prolapsing (verb forms)
To fall or to slip out of place; such as, of a bodily organ or part.