–noun, plural -tus⋅es, -tus. | 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. |
| 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. |
Origin: 1555–65; < class="ital-inline">hiātus opening, gap, equiv. to
hiā(
re) to gape, open +
-tus suffix of v. action
Related forms:hi⋅a⋅tal, adjective
Synonyms:3. break, interval, space.
hiatus. (n.d.). Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Retrieved May 13, 2009, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary1.classic.reference.com/browse/hiatus
