— hiatal , adj.
/huy ay"teuhs/ , n. , pl. hiatuses, hiatus .
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. Gram. , Pros. 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. Anat. a natural fissure, cleft, or foramen in a bone or other structure.
[ 1555-65; hiatus opening, gap, equiv. to hia ( re ) to gape, open + -tus suffix of v. action ]
Syn. 3. break, interval, space.