Meanings
alternative lapsus plumae
- formalSynonym of slip of the pen.
Near-synonyms: writo; miswriting; misprint; typo
1 more example
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.
1844, Suum Cuique [pseud.: Joseph Hewlett], “The Nice Young Man” in Hood’s Magazine and Comic Miscellany I, page 552Synonyms: lapsus calami, writo, miswriting, misprint, typo, slip of the pen
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of slip of the pen.
Origin
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.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
lapsus plumæ. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lapsus%20plum%C3%A6
“lapsus plumæ.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lapsus%20plum%C3%A6. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “lapsus plumæ,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/lapsus%20plum%C3%A6.
Source: lapsus plumæ on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.