diastema

[ dahy-uh-stee-muh ]

noun,plural di·a·ste·ma·ta [dahy-uh-stee-muh-tuh]. /ˌdaɪ əˈsti mə tə/.
  1. Cell Biology. the modified protoplasm at the equator of a cell, existing before mitotic division.

  2. Dentistry. a space between two teeth, especially a space between a canine and an incisor of the upper jaw into which a lower canine occludes.

Origin of diastema

1
1350–1400; Middle English <Late Latin <Greek: interval, equivalent to diastē, variant stem of diastánai to stand apart + -ma noun suffix denoting the result of action

Words Nearby diastema

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use diastema in a sentence

  • There is always a long diastema separating the incisors from the grinding teeth.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • The crowns of all the teeth are equal in height, and there is no diastema—an arrangement found in no living mammal but man.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • The diastema in front of the premolars is longer in the living Equidae than in their extinct allies.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • In all the others there is a gap or diastema of larger or smaller size between the incisors and canines.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
  • The incisors always have chisel-like edges and persistent pulps, and are separated by a wide diastema from the premolars.

    The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds

British Dictionary definitions for diastema

diastema

/ (ˌdaɪəˈstiːmə) /


nounplural -mata (-mətə)
  1. an abnormal space, fissure, or cleft in a bodily organ or part

  2. a gap between the teeth

Origin of diastema

1
C19: New Latin, from Greek: gap, from diistanai to separate; see diastasis

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012