This entry is devoted to the term lapsus in the sense of ‘apostate’: it was used above all by Cyprian to refer to those who had denied the Christian faith for fear of persecution. Lexical analysis shows that, in Late Antique Latin, lapsus was not generally applied to apostates, but specifically to those who had abjured during the persecutions of Decius (AD 249–51).
Gianmario Cattaneo (2026) studied this question.