lapis

See also: lápis

English

Etymology

Shortened form of lapis lazuli.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlæpɪs/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

lapis (uncountable)

1. Ellipsis of lapis lazuli.
   • 1735, [John Barrow], “ENGRAVING”, in Dictionarium Polygraphicum: Or, The Whole Body of Arts Regularly Digested. […], volume I (A–H), London: […] C[harles] Hitch and C[harles] Davis […], and S[amuel] Austen […], →OCLC:

     Lapis, opal, &c. are poliſh'd on a wooden wheel. To faſhion and Engrave vaſes of agate, cryſtal, lapis, or the like, they make uſe of a kind of lathe like that us'd by pewterers, excepting that as the pewterers lathe holds the veſſels, which are to be wrought with proper tools; that of the Engraver generally holds the tools which are turn'd by a wheel, and the veſſels held to them to be cut and engraven either in relievo or otherwiſe; [...]

   • 1923 (reprinted 1993), Franklin Simon Fashion Catalog for 1923 (Franklin Simon & Co, New York), item number 53:

     French Bead Necklace of lapis or carnelian color, with crystal rondelles between each bead, graduated, 32 inches long.

   • 2010, Irene Winter, editor, On Art in the Ancient Near East: From the Third Millennium B.C.E., page 291:

     That lapis lazuli in particular among the precious and semi-precious stones known from Mesopotamia was accorded considerable value in antiquity may be inferred from the archaeological record through association with high-status locii and goods. [...] deities receive votive gifts and booty of lapis, consisting of items of personal adornment and cult objects, while their temples are described as decorated with lapis or shining like lapis. [...] For example, the contents of the graves in the Royal Cemetery of Ur: [...] various objects employing inlay that include lapis among the insets, [...] Mari sent an emissary to acquire lapis from Lars.

   • 2011, Daniel Boscaljon, Hope and the Longing for Utopia: Futures and Illusions in Theology and Narrative, page 99:

     The buddha lands described in the Lotus share certain generic features: the ground is made of lapis or crystal; they are perfectly level, without mountains or valleys; they are free from all manner of filth, including the stench of latrines [...] The ground was made of lapis lazuli, [...]

Usage notes

• In translations of Indian mythological texts, a plural form lapises can be found.
• The term lapis is sometimes considered an informal/slang term, especially after its popularization by Minecraft.

Related terms

• lapis armenus
• lapis calaminaris
• lapis infernalis

See also

• kek lapis

Anagrams

• Alsip, spial, Lipas, Palis, pails, ALIPs, pials, lapsi, lipas

Bikol Central

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlapis/ [ˈl̪a.pis]
• Hyphenation: la‧pis

Noun

lápis (Basahan spelling ᜎᜉᜒᜐ᜔)

1. pencil

   Synonyms: pensil, monggol (dated)

See also

• bolpen
• pluma

Bolinao

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Cebuano

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: la‧pis
• IPA^(key): /ˈlapis/ [ˈl̪a.pɪs̪]

• Audio:

  (file)

Etymology 1

Unknown.

Noun

lapis

1. doublespotted queenfish (Scomberoides lysan)
2. needlescaled queenfish (Scomberoides tol)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”), from Latin lapis (“stone”).

Noun

lapis

1. a pencil

Cuyunon

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Galician

A pencil

Alternative forms

• lápis (reintegrationist)

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lapis (“stone”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlapis/ [ˈla.pis̺]
• Rhymes: -apis
• Hyphenation: la‧pis

Noun

lapis m (invariable)

1. pencil

   E a letra con que escribía nun papel cun lapis atado nunha silla.

   And the handwriting he used to write on a piece of paper with a pencil tied to a chair.

Further reading

• “lapis”, in gl:Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Indonesian

Etymology

Inherited from Malay lapis, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lapis (“stone slab, thin layer”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.pɪs/
• Rhymes: -pɪs, -ɪs, -s
• Hyphenation: la‧pis

Noun

lapis (plural lapis-lapis)

1. layer, lining
2. row
3. stratum

Adjective

lapis

1. in layers

Derived terms

• berlapis
• berlapis-lapis
• dilapisi
• lapisan
• melapis
• melapisi
• melapiskan
• pelapis
• pelapisan

• lapis antara
• lapis difusi
• lapis legit
• lapis monomolekul
• lapis mutiara
• lapis penutup

Related terms

• tapis
• tepis
• tipis

Further reading

• “lapis”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lapis. Doublet of lapide.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.pis/
• Rhymes: -apis
• Hyphenation: là‧pis

Noun

lapis m (invariable)

1. pencil

   Synonym: matita

2. sanguine (red chalk)

   Synonym: sanguigna

Derived terms

• appuntalapis

Descendants

• → Albanian: laps
• → Catalan: llapis
• → Galician: lapis, lápis
• → Maltese: lapes
• → Piedmontese: làpis
• → Portuguese: lápis (see there for further descendants)
• → Romagnol: àbiș
• → Spanish: lápiz (see there for further descendants)
• → Venetan: łàpis

Anagrams

• salpi, spali

Kapampangan

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlapis/ [ˈläː.pis]
• Hyphenation: la‧pis

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Kavalan

Noun

lapis

1. squirrel

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *lapets. May be connected with Ancient Greek λέπας (lépas, “bare rock, crag”), either from Proto-Indo-European *lep- (“to peel”) (compare secō, saxum; rumpō, rupēs) or, more likely, a Mediterranean substrate language.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈɫa.pɪs]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈlaː.pis]

Noun

lapis m (genitive lapidis); third declension

1. stone

   Synonyms: saxum, silex, petra

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Virgil, Georgics 2.346–353:

     Quod superest, quaecumque premes virgulta per agros,
     Sparge fimo pingui et multa memor occule terra,
     Aut lapidem bibulum aut squalentis infode conchas;
     Inter enim labentur aquae tenuisque subibit
     Halitus atque animos tollent sata; iamque reperti,
     Qui saxo super atque ingentis pondere testae
     Urgerent; hoc effusos munimen ad imbris,
     Hoc, ubi hiulca siti findit canis aestifer arva.

     • Translation by James B. Greenough

       For the rest, whate'er
       The sets thou plantest in thy fields, thereon
       Strew refuse rich, and with abundant earth
       Take heed to hide them, and dig in withal
       Rough shells or porous stone, for therebetween
       Will water trickle and fine vapour creep,
       And so the plants their drooping spirits raise.
       Aye, and there have been, who with weight of stone
       Or heavy potsherd press them from above;
       This serves for shield in pelting showers, and this
       When the hot dog-star chaps the fields with drought.

   • Late 4th century, Jerome [et al.], transl., edited by Roger Gryson, Biblia Sacra: Iuxta Vulgatam Versionem (Vulgate), 5th edition, Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, published 2007, →ISBN, Genesis 28:22:

     et lapis iste quem erexi in titulum vocabitur Domus Dei

     And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house

2. milestone
3. boundary stone
4. gravestone, tombstone
5. lapis manalis (“stone of manes”), which covers the gate of Hades or underworld
6. stone platform at a slave auction
7. statue
8. (poetic) jewel, precious stone

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	lapis	lapidēs
genitive	lapidis	lapidum
dative	lapidī	lapidibus
accusative	lapidem	lapidēs
ablative	lapide	lapidibus
vocative	lapis	lapidēs

Derived terms

• lapicīda
• lapidāris
• lapidēscō
• lapideus
• lapidō
• lapidōsus
• lapillus
• lapiō
• (medieval) lapis calamīnāris
• (medieval) lapis lazulī

Related terms

• lapidārius
• lapidātiō
• lapidātor

Descendants

• Asturian: llábana
• Italian: lapida, lapide
  • → Catalan: làpida
• Spanish: laude
• → Italian: lapis (see there for further descendants)
• → Polish: lapis
• → Portuguese: lápide
• → Russian: ля́пис (ljápis)
• → Spanish: lápida (see there for further descendants)

References

• “lapis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lapis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "lapis", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “lapis”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “lapis”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 678

Limos Kalinga

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Lubuagan Kalinga

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Malay

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [la.pes]
• Rhymes: -pes, -es
• Hyphenation: la‧pis

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *lapis (“stone slab, thin layer”).

Noun

lapis (Jawi spelling لاڤيس)

1. layer

   Synonym: petala

2. row
3. stratum

Derived terms

Affixations

• berlapis
• berlapis-lapis
• berlapiskan
• lapisan
• lapisi
• lapiskan
• melapis
• pelapis
• pelapisan

Compounds

• lapis emas

Descendants

• Indonesian: lapis

Etymology 2

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Adjective

lapis (Jawi spelling لاڤيس, comparative lebih lapis, superlative paling lapis)

1. flayed (of meat, etc.)
2. a type of kuih made out of rice flour or wheat flour and coconut milk steamed layer by layer

   Synonyms: kuih lapis, lapis legit

Further reading

• “lapis”, in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu [Malay Literary Reference Centre] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017

Maltese

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlaː.pɪs/
• Rhymes: -aːpɪs

Noun

lapis m (plural lapsijiet)

1. alternative form of lapes

Masbatenyo

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Matigsalug Manobo

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Pangasinan

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Etymology 2

Noun

lapís

1. coconut shell

Polish

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lapis (īnfernālis); compare Russian ля́пис (ljápis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈla.pis/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -apis
• Syllabification: la‧pis

Noun

lapis m inan

1. (informal) silver nitrate (silver salt of nitric acid, AgNO3)

   Synonyms: azotan srebra, kamień piekielny

2. (archaic) light grey or light lilac color

Declension

Declension of lapis

	singular
nominative	lapis
genitive	lapisu
dative	lapisowi
accusative	lapis
instrumental	lapisem
locative	lapisie
vocative	lapisie

Further reading

• lapis in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• lapis in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French lapis or Latin lapis.

Noun

lapis n (uncountable)

1. lapis lazuli

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	lapis	lapisul
genitive-dative	lapis	lapisului
vocative	lapisule

Tagabawa

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”), from Latin lapis. Doublet of lapida.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈlapis/ [ˈlaː.pɪs]
• Rhymes: -apis
• Syllabification: la‧pis

Noun

lapis (Baybayin spelling ᜎᜉᜒᜐ᜔)

1. pencil

   Synonym: mongol

2. graphite; black lead

   Synonym: grapito

3. doublespotted queenfish (Scomberoides lysan)
4. stone slab; stile of tiles

Derived terms

• batong-lapis
• lapisin
• maglapis

See also

• mongol

Further reading

• “lapis”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018.

Anagrams

• plais, pasil, Pasil, lipas

Tetum

Etymology

From Portuguese lápis.

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Waray-Waray

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil

Yogad

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish lápiz (“pencil”).

Noun

lapis

1. pencil