lapsus calami
"lapsus-calami" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lapsus calami” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Synonym of slip of the pen.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lapsus calami |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lapsus calami” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
lapsus calami is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Synonym of slip of the pen.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for lapsus calami in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin lāpsus calamī (literally “slip of the pen”), from calamus (“pen”). The correct English form is lapsus calami, spelled L-A-P-S-U-S- -C-A-L-A-M-I.
Definition
- 1Synonym of slip of the pen.
Etymology
From Latin lāpsus calamī (literally “slip of the pen”), from calamus (“pen”).
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
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Using “lapsus calami”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-P-S-U-S- -C-A-L-A-M-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.