English Explanatory Dictionary

lacuna

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A small opening; a small pit or depression, especially in bone.
  2. A space visible between cells, allowing free passage of light.
  3. A small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
  4. An absent part, especially in a book or other piece of writing, often referring to an ancient manuscript or similar.
  5. Any gap, break, hole, or lack in a set of things; something missing.
  6. A language gap, which occurs when there is no direct translation in the target language for a lexical term found in the source language.

Pronunciation

/ləˈk(j)uː.nə/ en-us-lacuna.ogg en-us-lacuna-2.ogg

Word forms

lacuna lacunae lacunæ lacunas

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lacūna (“a ditch, pit; a hollow, cavity; a gap, defect”). Doublet of lacune and lagoon.

Synonyms

gap hiatus anisomorphism

Derived words

lacunal lacunar lacunary lacunate lacunose

Translations

Chinese Mandarin: 腔隙 Czech: propust Finnish: aukko German: Spalt Ido: lakuno Northern Kurdish: kelên Latin: lacūna Norwegian Bokmål: lakune Norwegian Nynorsk: lakune
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