[L.; see LAPSE sb.] A lapse, slip or error. Chiefly in the L. phrases lapsus linguæ, a slip of the tongue, and lapsus calami, a slip of the pen.
1667. Dryden, Mart. Mar-all, III. (1668), 28. What have I done besides a little lapsus linguæ?
1713. Addison, Guardian, No. 121, ¶ 3. He … was unfortunately betrayed into a lapsus linguæ.
1822. J. Flint, Lett. Amer., 109. The people committed the lapsus, when they [etc.].
1893. Nation (N. Y.), 2 March, 165/2. The following … is a lapsus calami whose occurrence it is quite impossible to understand.
