I. hīˈād.əs, -ātəs noun
( -es )
Etymology: Latin, from past participle of hiare to gape — more at yawn
1.
a. : a break in or as if in a material object : gap : aperture
the weedy hiatus between the town and the railroad — Willa Cather
the hiatus between the theory and the practice of the party — J.G.Colton
b. : a gap or passage through an anatomical part or organ ; especially : a gap through which another part or organ passes
2.
a. : an interruption or lapse in or as if in time or continuity
the programs that are to fill in during the summer hiatus — Saul Carson
if deposition of sediment should cease everywhere for a time, a natural … hiatus in the stratigraphic record would result — C.O.Dunbar
hiatuses of thought when certain links in the association of ideas are dropped — Edmund Wilson
b. : the occurrence of or relationship between two vowel sounds without pause or intervening consonantal sound (as when beyond is pronounced without a y sound)
Synonyms: see break
II. adjective
1. : involving a hiatus
2. of a hernia : having a part that herniates through the esophageal hiatus of the diaphragm