Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break.
  • noun Linguistics A slight pause that occurs when two immediately adjacent vowels in consecutive syllables are pronounced, as in reality and naive.
  • noun Anatomy A separation, aperture, fissure, or short passage in an organ or body part.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An opening; an aperture; a gap; a chasm.
  • noun In anatomy, a foramen.
  • noun In grammar and prosody, the coming together of two vowels without intervening consonant in successive words or syllables of one word.
  • noun A space from which something requisite to completeness is absent, as a missing link in a genealogy, an interval of unknown history, a lost or erased part of a manuscript, etc.; a lacuna; a break.
  • noun Specifically, in logic, a fault of demonstration, consisting in the omission to prove some premise made use of, and not self-evident or admitted.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun 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.
  • noun (Gram.) The concurrence of two vowels in two successive words or syllables.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A gap in a series, making it incomplete.
  • noun An interruption, break or pause.
  • noun A vacation, break from work.
  • noun geology A gap in geological strata.
  • noun anatomy An opening in an organ.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript)
  • noun an interruption in the intensity or amount of something
  • noun a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin hiātus, from past participle of hiāre, to gape.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin hiātus ("opening"), from hiō ("stand open, yawn").

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Examples

  • Cleopatra _Cleopatra_ compatriot _compatriot_ gratis _gratis_ or _grahtis_ harem _harem_ or _hahrem_ heinous _hanous_ hiatus _hiatus_ implacable _implakable_ nape _nap_ née _na_ négligé _naglezha'_ patron _patron_ protégé _protazha'_ résumé _razuma'_ tenacious _tenashus_ tomato _tomato_ or _tomahto_ valet _va'la_ or _val'et_ vase _vas, vahz_, or _vaz_ veracious _verashus_ vivacious _vivashus_

    Practical Grammar and Composition Thomas Wood

  • One Heroes Season 4 rumor, and an update on what Masi Oka aka Hiro has been doing during his hiatus from the show.

    July 2010 | Heroes: NBC TV Show/Series – News, Spoilers, Reviews, and Fan Forum 2009

  • Personally, I think a two year fall turkey season hiatus is needed to restore the population.

    Fall Turkey Season 2009

  • I am not kidding – as I opened up my computer to read your article we had the Muppet Show playing in the background after a long hiatus from the DVD rotation.

    Stupid Stuff Can Jumpstart Creativity « Write Anything 2009

  • Personally, I think a two year fall turkey season hiatus is needed to restore the population.

    Fall Turkey Season 2009

  • On an unrelated note, yes we took a hiatus from the SpouseBUZZ Challenge due to travel and SpouseBUZZ event, but get ready - it's about to start up again ....

    Breaths of Fresh Air - SpouseBUZZ 2009

  • Why doesn't he opt for a hiatus from the political arena and appoint somebody to run the state for a while?

    Sanford visiting family in Sullivan's Island 2009

  • "Trevor took a hiatus from a very successful private sector career to give service to the Republican Party this year," Steele said in the statement.

    RNC official resigns 2009

  • On an unrelated note, yes we took a hiatus from the SpouseBUZZ Challenge due to travel and SpouseBUZZ event, but get ready - it's about to start up again ....

    July 2009 - SpouseBUZZ 2009

  • For some couples the most viable option may be for one parent to take temporary hiatus from the workforce.

    Finding Balance 2009

Comments

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  • He sees health for himself in being one of the mass—he sees the hiatus in singular eminence. Whitman, Preface 1855

    December 9, 2006