hiatus
[hahy-ey-tuhs]
- 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 on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
lapse, interval, rift, discontinuity, chasm, lacuna, opening, space, gap, break, interim, blank, aperture, breachExamples from the Web for hiatus
Contemporary Examples
Padre Goyo got back to Mexico in May from a three-month hiatus that he called a self-imposed exile in Europe.
In the summer of 2013, Jon Stewart took a hiatus from The Daily Show and traveled to Jordan for a month to film a movie.
They forged ahead and toured in support of the new record for a year—then went on hiatus.
Interpol on the Arrogance of Believing Their Own Myth and Life After Carlos D.Melissa Leon
September 8, 2014
The show returned from hiatus this week, and the host got right to work talking about Ferguson.
Comedy icon and Daily Show host Jon Stewart shocked fans when he took a three-month hiatus from the show in the summer of 2013.
Historical Examples
Of course the reason for the hiatus in the books was plain enough.
The PortygeeJoseph Crosby Lincoln
No copies were retained, so there is a hiatus in the record.
Personal Recollections of a CavalrymanJ. H. (James Harvey) Kidd
And yet his experience told him 205 that there must be some rift, some hiatus in the scheme.
The CreviceWilliam John Burns and Isabel Ostrander
The Composer, however, observed the hiatus, and directed the insertion of two rests.
The Shadow WorldHamlin Garland
Then he covered the hiatus with paint, and hoisted the ensign to the flagstaff.
The Wreck of the TitanMorgan Robertson
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
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for 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.