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lapsed. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
lapsed, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
lapsed in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Pronunciation
Verb
lapsed
- simple past and past participle of lapse
Adjective
lapsed (not generally comparable, comparative more lapsed, superlative most lapsed)
- Discontinued; having ceased or gone out of use.
1895, William Andrews, Curious Church Customs and Cognate Subjects, Hull: Hull Press, →OCLC, page 30:The royal charities on Maunday Thursday, are really a portion of an otherwise lapsed custom, which recalled the action of our Lord on the day before His Crucifixion.
- (of a person) Changed to a less valued condition or state; especially having lost one's religious faith.
1726, John Ayliffe, Parergon Juris Canonici Anglicani, London: Printed for the Author by D. Leach, →OCLC, page 465:...satisfy the Doubtful, confirm the Wavering, recover the Lapsed, and be useful to all according to their several Circumstances and Conditions.
1821, Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, Boston, →OCLC, page 14:One of them is a lapsed Catholic; the other is in no doubt of what to do, as he has suffered much on account of his adherence to Christianity.
- (humorous) By extension, having changed a (secular) belief or adherence.
1981, Jessamyn West, Double Discovery: A Journey, G.K. Hall, →ISBN:My mother knew that I was a lapsed Republican, but did not dream of the depth to which I had fallen.
- (archaic, of a legacy) Having passed from the original holder or authority; no longer claimed.
1789, Jean-Charles Laveaux, The Life of Frederick the Second, King of Prussia, London: J. Derbett, →OCLC, page 143:The only legitimate claimants must be, Albert of Austria, son of the sister of the last duke John; and the emperor Sigsmund, who might consider this part of Bavaria as a lapsed fief: that in this quality he had given the investiture of it to his son-in-law
Synonyms
- (having lost one's religious faith): nonpracticing
- (having changed a secular belief or adherence): in name
Antonyms
Anagrams
Estonian
Noun
lapsed
- nominative plural of laps