hiatus

[hahy-ey-tuhs]

noun

plural

hiatuses, hiatus 

1. a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

2. a missing part; gap or lacuna.

   Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.

3. any gap or opening.

   Synonyms: space, interval, break

4. 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.

5. Anatomy.,  a natural fissure, cleft, or foramen in a bone or other structure.

hiatus

/ haɪˈeɪtəs /

noun

1. (esp in manuscripts) a break or gap where something is missing

2. a break or interruption in continuity

3. a break between adjacent vowels in the pronunciation of a word

4. anatomy a natural opening or aperture; foramen

5. anatomy a less common word for vulva

Other Word Forms

• hiatal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of hiatus¹

First recorded in 1555–65; from Latin hiātus “opening, gap,” equivalent to hiā(re) “to gape, open” + -tus, noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of hiatus¹

C16: from Latin: gap, cleft, aperture, from hiāre to gape, yawn

Example Sentences

Despite leading his country to back-to-back Euros following a 23-year hiatus, the 62-year-old is sometimes met with mixed emotions within the Tartan Army.

Read more on BBC

Treasury yields declined during early European trade as market attention increasingly turns to the Federal Reserve’s December meeting following a data hiatus during the government shutdown.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

After a hiatus, many of the stars associated with those earlier films are back, except now they’re middle-aged or older.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Jelks and Wells gradually took over shop, and when Earth, Wind and Fire took a hiatus in 1984, they began designing for a Minnesotan upstart named Prince.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But their drawn-out legal battle has forced them into a hiatus.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• interval 
• lapse