lapsus plumæ

See also: lapsus plumae

English

Alternative forms

• lapsus plumae

Etymology

First attested in 1844; Latin: lāpsus (“a slipping”; in the plural lāpsūs, “slippings”, the nominative plural form of lāpsus) + plūmae (“of the feather or plume”, the genitive singular form of plūma, “feather”, “plume”) = “a slipping of the feather” ≈ “a lapse of the plume” ≈ “a slip of the quill”; compare lapsus linguae and the English-coined French phrase nom de plume.

Pronunciation

singular

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lăpʹsəs.plo͞oʹmē, IPA^(key): /ˌlæpsəsˈpluːmiː/

plural

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: lăpʹso͞os.plo͞oʹmē, IPA^(key): /ˌlæpsuːsˈpluːmiː/

Noun

lapsus plumæ (plural lapsus plumæ)

1. An error made in writing.

   Synonyms: lapsus calami, typo

   Coordinate term: lapsus linguae

   • 1844, Suum Cuique [pseud.: Joseph Hewlett], “The Nice Young Man” in Hood’s Magazine and Comic Miscellany I, page 552

     When he came to a word like believe, he was cunning enough to write two ees, and put a dot just over the middle of them, leaving the reader to imagine that his error was the result of a mere lapsus plumæ.