hiatus
[hahy-ey-tuh s]
- a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.
- a missing part; gap or lacuna: Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.
- any gap or opening.
- Grammar, Prosody. the coming together, with or without break or slight pause, and without contraction, of two vowels in successive words or syllables, as in see easily.
- Anatomy. a natural fissure, cleft, or foramen in a bone or other structure.
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Origin of hiatus
1555–65; < Latin hiātus opening, gap, equivalent to hiā(re) to gape, open + -tus suffix of v. action
Synonyms
See more synonyms for hiatus on Thesaurus.com3. break, interval, space.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
hiatus
- (esp in manuscripts) a break or gap where something is missing
- a break or interruption in continuity
- a break between adjacent vowels in the pronunciation of a word
- anatomy a natural opening or aperture; foramen
- anatomy a less common word for vulva
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin: gap, cleft, aperture, from hiāre to gape, yawn
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
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Word Origin and History for hiatal
hiatus
n.
1560s, "break or opening in a material object," from Latin hiatus "opening, aperture, rupture, gap," from past participle stem of hiare "to gape, stand open" (see yawn (v.)). Sense of "gap or interruption in events, etc." is first recorded 1610s.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
hiatus
(hī-ā′təs)- An aperture or fissure in an organ or a body part.
- A foramen.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.