Home › Words › E › elapseelapse/ɪˈlæps/elapse means to pass or move by.elapse is pronounced /ɪˈlæps/.EtymologyFrom Middle French elapser, from Latin elapsus.verbTo pass or move by.e.g.“He allowed a month to elapse before beginning the work.”Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).Words closest in meaningBy meaning, not spelling — each word's AI semantic fingerprint, nearest first.elapsion 73% match — The act of elapsing; elapse vs elapse →delapse 59% match — To pass down by inheritance; to lapse. vs elapse →overpast 58% match — ended; having passed over or passed by vs elapse →atgo 58% match — To expend; go; pass away; vanish. vs elapse →lapsing 58% match — The act or process by which something lapses. vs elapse →interlapse 57% match — The time between two events. vs elapse →passed 56% match — That has passed beyond a certain point (chiefly in set collocations). vs elapse →evanesce 55% match — To disappear into a mist or dissipate in vapor vs elapse →