lapsus

noun

The verdict

“lapsus” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - allmähliche Bewegung, das Gleiten, das Fallen, das Fließen

Corpus desk

Index DE-lapsus · lapsus · German

lapsus · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for lapsus
PropertyValue
Headwordlapsus
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „lapsus“ im Deutschen

lapsusliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lapsus is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for lapsus, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct German form is lapsus, spelled L-A-P-S-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    allmähliche Bewegung, das Gleiten, das Fallen, das Fließen
  2. 2
    Fall, Sturz, Einsturz
  3. 3
    Fehltritt, Verstoß, Versehen, Fehler

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how lapsus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Quo Castalia per struices saxeas lapsu accidit“ (Liv. Andr. trag. 37)

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "lapsus"?
"lapsus" is spelled L-A-P-S-U-S.
What does "lapsus" mean?
As a noun, "lapsus" means: allmähliche Bewegung, das Gleiten, das Fallen, das Fließen
What language does "lapsus" come from?
"lapsus" is a German word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list