"Prelapsarian" most literally means "(having to do with the time) before a lapse."

It appears that someone (we don't know who) coined this word in the 1800s, following a pattern of similar older words from theology, like "Sublapsarian" (which means "related to the idea that God had foreseen the fall of man before it happened") and "Infralapsarian" (which means "related to the idea that God allowed the fall of man to happen").

The "lapse" in all these words refers to the "lapse" or "fall" of humankind described in the Bible, the one where the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, started out innocent and obedient but lapsed (or fell) into sin, guilt, and disobedience.

So today, "prelapsarian" is a rare, religious-sounding, ridiculously academic word meaning "pure and innocent, young and carefree, as if ignorant of the world's terrible truths—but perhaps also destined to eventually become corrupt, downtrodden, and painfully aware of the world's terrible truths."

Part of speech:

Adjective: "some prelapsarian past;" "This belongs to a past that's prelapsarian and, probably, imaginary."

Other forms: 

You can snap off the "pre-" and describe things as "lapsarian," or if you like, "post-lapsarian," meaning "no longer pure or innocent." These words do appear in dictionaries, but they're very rare.

how to use it:

Pick the rare word "prelapsarian" when you want a funny, overly-educated description of things or people who are pure, innocent, unspoiled, and Eden-like, but perhaps tempted, or perhaps soon to be guilty, debased, and sinful.

You might talk about prelapsarian people, souls, groups of people, places, or periods of time. Or a prelapsarian ideal, tone, or innocence.

"Prelapsarian" is especially great for describing some person, place, or time before it became worldly and/or corrupted, à la Adam and Eve. Here's the Guardian: "We must wish them all the best in returning the Super Bowl to its prelapsarian state of Honda ads and head traumas." And here's Salon: "Did the lens of time blur reality into a prelapsarian food idyll — before globalization made us more 'sophisticated' eaters?"

examples:

"This Summer, Smell Like Fruit Salad... Let's be honest about it: The desire to walk around smelling like a fruit basket is, at its core, an embarrassing one. It's almost prelapsarian, this physical yearning to not only eat the ripe apple but also to rub it all over your skin." 
   — Rachel Syme, New York Times, 2 July 2018

"You play as Davis Russell, a tough-talking cop with a heart of gold... Russell narrates in gruff, ludicrous noir style, describing his life before the alien invasion as a prelapsarian time 'before war even existed as an idea.'"
  — Tom Meltzer, The Guardian, 5 July 2012

has this page helped you understand "prelapsarian"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "prelapsarian" without saying "wide-eyed" or "virtuous."

try it out:

Be serious or sarcastic as you fill in the blanks: "(Something was wonderful.) (Something else was wonderful.) This was a prelapsarian time before (something bad happened)."

Example 1: "We blasted Tiffany on our pink boombox. We kissed our posters of the New Kids on the Block. It was a prelapsarian time before Milli Vanilli's lip-synching scandalized us."

Example 2: "The opinion poll leads were continuous and stratospheric. The media were swooning... This was a prelapsarian time before office brought its inevitable disappointments, betrayals and failures."
  — Andrew Rawnsley, The Guardian, 5 June 2010

If you like, use this space to write. (To save your work, copy and paste it into an email or a document.)

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game this month is "Words On Words On Birds."

Use your knowledge of vocabulary to answer questions about the terminology describing names for birds.

Try this today:

Which of the names below is a binomen?

A. Aves
B. ostrich
C. Struthio 
D. Struthio camelus

Need a hint? Highlight this hidden text: Consider the meaning of the prefix bi-.

To see the answer, scroll all the way down. 

review this word:

1. PRELAPSARIAN's exact opposite is POST-LAPSARIAN, meaning

A. ADVANCED, INDUSTRIAL, or HIGH-TECH.
B. SPOILED, CORRUPTED, or WORLDLY-WISE.
C. AFTER DEATH, POST MORTEM, POSTHUMOUS.

2. Steve Rose described the animated fantasy movie My Neighbour Totoro as "full of _____" and "prelapsarian _____."

A. car chases .. chemistry
B. benign spirituality .. innocence
C. unremarkable suburbs .. consumerism

Answers to the review questions: 1. B 2. B From the game: Which of the names below is a binomen? A. Aves B. ostrich C. Struthio  D. Struthio camelus is the correct answer. According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a binomen is "the two-part Latin name of an animal or plant." It names both the genus and the species. In this case, "Aves" refers to birds as a class; "ostrich" is a common name; "Struthio" is the genus; and "Struthio camelus" is both the genus and species, a.k.a., the binomen.

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From my blog: On vocabulary...       36 ways to study words.       Why we forget words, & how to remember them.       How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. On writing...       How to improve any sentence.       How to motivate our kids to write.       How to stop procrastinating and start writing.       How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count. From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.