Middle English Dictionary Entry
relaps(e n.
Entry Info
| Forms | relaps(e n. |
| Etymology | ML relapsus n. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
Note: Cp. laps(e n.
1.
A falling back into wrongdoing, moral backsliding.
Associated quotations
- c1475(1459) Pros.Yorkists in EHR 26 (Roy 17.D.15)516 : Of a pure malice and longtyme precogitat wykednes, the whiche after the furst indulgence hade relapse and recay in a greter and more pernicious offence thann the first was..is it herin ony cause of mercy?
- c1475(1459) Pros.Yorkists in EHR 26 (Roy 17.D.15)521 : It [mercy] was but condycionall, yf thay wold abyde in good rule; But it is so that thay have broken the condycion by thaire relaps.