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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

hi·a·tus

Audio Help [hahy-ey-tuh

–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.

3.	any gap or opening.

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; < L 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
hiatus

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

hi·a·tus Audio Help (hī-ā'təs) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. hi·a·tus·es or hiatus

A gap or interruption in space, time, or continuity; a break: "We are likely to be disconcerted by . . . hiatuses of thought" (Edmund Wilson).
Linguistics A slight pause that occurs when two immediately adjacent vowels in consecutive syllables are pronounced, as in reality and naive.
Anatomy A separation, aperture, fissure, or short passage in an organ or body part.

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

hi·a'tal (-āt'l) adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
hiatus

1563, "break or opening in a material object," from L. hiatus "opening, rupture, gap," from hiare "to gape, stand open." Sense of "gap or interruption in events, etc." is first recorded 1613.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

hiatus
noun
1.	an interruption in the intensity or amount of something [syn: suspension]
2.	a missing piece (as a gap in a manuscript)
3.	a natural opening or perforation through a bone or a membranous structure [syn: foramen]

American Heritage Stedman's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

hi·a·tus (h-ts)
n. pl. hiatus or hi·a·tus·es

An aperture or fissure in an organ or a body part.
A foramen.

hi·atal adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Main Entry: hi·a·tus
Pronunciation: hI-'At-&s
Function: noun
: a gap or passage through an anatomical part or organ; especially : a gap through which another part or organ passes

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Hiatus

Hi*a"tion\, n. [See Hiatus.] Act of gaping. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Hiatus

Hi*a"tus\, n.; pl. L. Hiatus, E. Hiatuses. [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. (Gram.) The concurrence of two vowels in two successive words or syllables. --Pope.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Hiatus

Hi*a"tus\, n.; pl. L. Hiatus, E. Hiatuses. [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. (Gram.) The concurrence of two vowels in two successive words or syllables. --Pope.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Hiatus

Yawn\ (y[add]n), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Yawned; p. pr. & vb. n. Yawning.] [OE. yanien, [yogh]anien, ganien, gonien, AS. g[=a]nian; akin to ginian to yawn, g[=i]nan to yawn, open wide, G. g["a]hnen to yawn, OHG. gin[=e]n, gein[=o]n, Icel. g[=i]na to yawn, gin the mouth, OSlav. zijati to yawn, L. hiare to gape, yawn; and perhaps to E. begin, cf. Gr. cheia` a hole. [root]47b. Cf. Begin, Gin to begin, Hiatus.]

1. To open the mouth involuntarily through drowsiness, dullness, or fatigue; to gape; to oscitate. "The lazy, yawning drone." --Shak.

And while above he spends his breath, The yawning audience nod beneath. --Trumbull.

2. To open wide; to gape, as if to allow the entrance or exit of anything.

't is now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn. --Shak.

3. To open the mouth, or to gape, through surprise or bewilderment. --Shak.

4. To be eager; to desire to swallow anything; to express desire by yawning; as, to yawn for fat livings. "One long, yawning gaze." --Landor.

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