lapsus oculi

lap·sus oc·u·li
UK/ˌlæpsəs ˈɒkjʊlaɪ/US/ˌlæpsəs ˈɑkjəˌlaɪ/

noun

An error that results from looking in the wrong place, especially one that occurs while copying or translating a body of text.

Meanings

nounlapsus oculi (plural lapsus oculi)
  1. formalrareAn error that results from looking in the wrong place, especially one that occurs while copying or translating a body of text.

    Oh, a mere lapsus oculi. The Doctor's optics were not quite so sound, as he imagined.

    1828, “Dialogue II. The Convex Lens.”, in Optics, on the Principle of Images, without Material Light, Rays and Refraction. […], London: […] [Leech and Cheetham] for Longman, Rees and Co.; Manchester: Everett, →OCLC, page 38
    5 more examples

    [T]he name Tetragonopterus was due to a lapsus oculi of [Georges] Cuvier and never appeared in that form till 1815; […]

    1896, Theodore Gill, “Note on the Nomenclature of the Pœciloid Fishes”, in Marcus Benjamin, editor, Proceedings of the United States National Museum, volume XVIII, number 1060, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office [for the Smithsonian Institution], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 226

    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).

    1939, William Heath Robinson, K[enneth] R[obert] G[ordon] Browne, “Road Sense and Etiquette”, in How to Be a Motorist (Vintage Words of Wisdom; 14), [S.l.]: RHE Media, published 2014, →ISBN

    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.

    1961, Joseph Perry Ponte, “Introduction”, in Musica Disciplina: A Revised Text, Translation and Commentary, volume 1 (unpublished dissertation), Waltham, Mass.: Brandeis University, →OCLC, page xiv

    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.

    Bulletin of the Association of Friends of the National Museum of Reggio Calabria

    1970, Klearchos: Bollettino dell’Associazione Amici del Museo Nazionale di Reggio Calabria [Bulletin of the Association of Friends of the National Museum of Reggio Calabria], Naples: L’Arte Tiprografica Napoli, →ISSN, →OCLC, 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?

    1998, Norma Bouchard, Veronica Pravadelli, editors, Umberto Eco’s Alternative: The Politics of Culture and the Ambiguities of Interpretation, New York, N.Y.: Peter Lang, →ISBN, page 100

Origin

Unadapted borrowing from Latin lāpsus oculī (literally “slip of the eye”), from lāpsus (“slipping; (figurative, rare) error”) + oculī (genitive of oculus (“eye”)).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish lapsus oculi
  • lapsus oculierror that results from looking in the wrong place
French lapsus oculi
  • lapsus oculierror that results from looking in the wrong place
Latin lāpsus oculī
  • lāpsus oculīerror that results from looking in the wrong place
Cite this entry
APA

lapsus oculi. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lapsus%20oculi

MLA

“lapsus oculi.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lapsus%20oculi. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lapsus oculi,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lapsus%20oculi.

Source: lapsus oculi on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.