Etymograph

English

lapsarian

Lapsarian comes from Latin lapsus ‘fall’, from lābor ‘to slip’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)leh₂b-1uncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElābor1‘to slip’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElapsus2‘fall’
  4. Englishtodaylapsarian2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin lapsus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English lapsarian

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)leh₂b-Wiktionary, Latin lapsusuncertain
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElāborWiktionary, Latin lapsus‘to slip’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElapsusWiktionary, English lapsarian‘fall’
  4. EnglishtodaylapsarianWiktionary, English lapsarian

Linked words

through Latin lābor ‘to slip’

labour, collaboration, laboratory, elaborate, collapse, lava, relapse, laborious, labile, elapse, 7 more

through Latin lapsus ‘fall’

lapse, 2 more

Today it means

adj Of or pertaining to the fall of man from innocence.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “lapsarian”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin lapsus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)leh₂b- / lapsarian

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