elapsing

Elapsing refers to the act of time passing. In English, elapse is an intransitive verb that describes the movement of time from one moment to the next. The present participle elapsing is used to indicate that this passage is ongoing, as in phrases like time is elapsing or as time elapses.

Etymology and history provide that elapse comes from Latin elabi, meaning to glide away or slip by. The word entered English in the late medieval period and evolved into the noun elapse and the participle form elapsing, both now common in formal and technical writing.

Usage and grammar are straightforward: elapse is intransitive and does not take a direct object. The subject is typically time or a period, and the verb describes its progression. The adjective elapsed describes time that has already passed, as in elapsed time. The phrase elapsed time is widely used to designate the duration between two events. In contrast, more casual speech frequently uses pass or go by to convey the same idea.

Common contexts include scientific reporting, legal language, and narrative writing, where precision about duration matters. Elapsing connotes a neutral, objective sense of time moving forward, without emotional valuation.

Examples: Two hours elapsed before the train arrived. As time elapses, the memory becomes hazier. The elapsed time since the restart was logged for analysis.

See also: lapse, passage of time, elapsed time, time interval.