hiatus

Noun
US[hahy-ey-tuhs]/haɪˈeɪtəs/3 syllables
Synonyms: suspensionrespitereprieveabatementforamen

Open English WordNet

Noun (3)hiatuses

  1. an interruption in the intensity or amount of somethingSynonyms: suspensionrespitereprieveabatementType of interruption, breakKinds remission, defervescence
  2. a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript)Type of piece
  3. a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structureSynonyms: foramenType of opening, gapKinds interventricular foramen, foramen magnum
Word of the day · Oct 15About this word
exemplaryadjective

What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz

Advertisement

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Hi·a′tus noun; pl. L. Hiatus, E. Hiatuses (#).

Origin: L., fr. hiare, hiatum, to gape; akin to E. yawn. See Yawn.

1. An opening; an aperture; a gap; a chasm; esp., a defect in a manuscript, where some part is lost or effaced; a space where something is wanting; a break.

2. Grammar The concurrence of two vowels in two successive words or syllables. Alexander Pope

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54

Advertisement