lapsus digitorum

English

Etymology

Coined as an analogue of lapsus linguae for users of sign language from the (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin lāpsus (“a slipping or falling”) (lāpsūs in the plural) + digitōrum (“of fingers”), genitive plural form of digitus (“finger”) = “a slipping of fingers”; compare lapsus digiti.

Pronunciation

singular

• enPR: lăpʹsəs.dĭjĭtôʹrəm, IPA^(key): /ˈlæpsəs.dɪdʒɪˈtɔːɹəm/

plural

• enPR: lăpʹso͞os.dĭjĭtôʹrəm, IPA^(key): /ˈlæpsuːs.dɪdʒɪˈtɔːɹəm/

Noun

lapsus digitorum (plural lapsus digitorum)

1. (rare) A spelling error in signing.
   • 1864: The Reverend Samuel Smith, The Deaf and Dumb: Their Deprivation and Its Consequences; The Process of Their Education, With other Interesting Particulars, page 23

     We remember an instance of a little girl who had picked up the phrase “good-night” from the elder pupils, spelling each letter on her fingers, using it as they did, when bidding adieu to the teacher who conducted evening prayers; but she showed her misapprehension of its exact meaning, by saying “good-night” to her teacher after morning school. It was no mere lapsus digitorum, for having not yet been taught the names of the divisions of time, she had confounded the particular term “good-night,” with the general one “good-bye.”

Related terms

• lapsus calami
• lapsus digiti
• lapsus linguae
• lapsus memoriae