lapsus oculi

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lāpsus oculī.

Noun

lapsus oculi (plural lapsus oculi)

1. (formal, rare) An error that results from looking in the wrong place, especially one that occurs while copying or translating a body of text.
   • 1970, Klearchos, page 100:

     The straightforward and economical explanation of this mistake is a lapsus oculi on the part of the mason triggered by the structural similarity in his draft of the local freak beta and the mu which immediately followed it.

     Likely italicized.

   • 1980, Joseph Perry Ponte, Musica Disciplina: A Revised Text, Translation and Commentary, Brandeis University, page xiv:

     It has been carelessly copied and contains many lapsus oculi: frequently a single word has been omitted, obviously through inattention; occasionally a line or two of the archetype has been skipped, so that completely separate sentences have been fused together; sometimes simple mis-readings occur.

   • 1998, Norma Bouchard, Veronica Pravadelli, editors, Umberto Eco's Alternative, →ISBN, page 100:

     Was it a simple lapsus oculi on the part of the translator, a kind of scribal error that led to an involuntary deletion?

   • 2014, William Heath Robinson, K.R.G. Browne, How to be a Motorist, →ISBN:

     Well, if what he runs into is the comely member, all may turn out for the best, as more than one romance has burgeoned in a Cottage Hospital. If, on the other hand, it is the local reservoir or a passing pantechnicon, he will probably regret his lapsus oculi (I think).

See also

• misreading