lappel

Lappel is not a widely recognized term in English-language dictionaries. In many texts it appears as a typographical error for the French word l’appel, or as a surname or place-name variant in some regions. Without context its meaning remains ambiguous.

In French, the correct form is l’appel, a masculine noun meaning “the call,” “the appeal,” or “a summons.” It is used in everyday language (for example, l’appel téléphonique means the phone call) and in legal contexts (l’appel d’un verdict means the appeal of a verdict). A well-known idiom is l’appel du vide (“the call of the void”), used to describe an urge to jump from a high place and found in literary and philosophical contexts.

Etymology: l’appel comes from the Latin appellare, via Old French appel. The elision before a vowel is written with an apostrophe, producing l’appel.

Usage notes: In standard French, the apostrophe is required; the unspaced form lappel is considered incorrect in formal writing. In English-language texts, the form is typically represented as l’appel when referring to the French term, or translated as “the call” or “the appeal.” Occasional uses of lappel may appear as a surname or branding in non-French contexts, but these are not common or standardized.

See also: Appel (related term in Dutch and French), Appell (German), Appello (Italian).