lapsed
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Verb edit
lapsed
- simple past and past participle of lapse
Adjective edit
lapsed (not generally comparable, comparative more lapsed, superlative most lapsed)
- Discontinued; having ceased or gone out of use.
- 1895, William Andrews, Curious Church Customs and Cognate Subjects, Hull: Hull Press, →OCLC, page 30:
- The royal charities on Maunday Thursday, are really a portion of an otherwise lapsed custom, which recalled the action of our Lord on the day before His Crucifixion.
- (of a person) Changed to a less valued condition or state; especially having lost one's religious faith.
- 1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani, London: Printed for the Author by D. Leach, →OCLC, page 465:
- ...satisfy the Doubtful, confirm the Wavering, recover the Lapsed, and be useful to all according to their several Circumstances and Conditions.
- 1821, Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Boston, →OCLC, page 14:
- One of them is a lapsed Catholic; the other is in no doubt of what to do, as he has suffered much on account of his adherence to Christianity.
- (humorous) By extension, having changed a (secular) belief or adherence.
- 1981, Jessamyn West, Double Discovery: A Journey, G.K. Hall, →ISBN:
- My mother knew that I was a lapsed Republican, but did not dream of the depth to which I had fallen.
- (archaic, of a legacy) Having passed from the original holder or authority; no longer claimed.
- 1789, Jean-Charles Laveaux, The Life of Frederick the Second, King of Prussia, London: J. Derbett, →OCLC, page 143:
- The only legitimate claimants must be, Albert of Austria, son of the sister of the last duke John; and the emperor Sigsmund, who might consider this part of Bavaria as a lapsed fief: that in this quality he had given the investiture of it to his son-in-law
Synonyms edit
- (having lost one's religious faith): nonpracticing
- (having changed a secular belief or adherence): in name
Antonyms edit
- (antonym(s) of "having lost one's religious faith"): practicing, devout
Anagrams edit
Estonian edit
Noun edit
lapsed
- nominative plural of laps