Dictionary

hiatus en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /hɐˈjaː.t̪ʊs/ (Philippines)
• /haɪˈeɪtəs/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin hiātus (“opening”) (mid-16th century), from hiō (“stand open, yawn”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A gap in a series, making it incomplete.
   • Even the mechanical engineer comes at last to an end of his figures, and must stand up, a practical man, face to face with the discrepancies of nature and the hiatuses of theory. 1912, Robert Louis Stevenson, Records of a Family of Engineers:
2. (countable, uncountable) An interruption, break, pause or absence.
   • The band decided to go on hiatus, citing creative differences.
   • After a ten-year dividend hiatus, shareholder payments only re-started in July 2022. 2023 December 13, Mel Holley, “Open access operations help to boost First's figures”, in RAIL, number 998, page 20:
   • It is wonderful that you should have slipped back into your American life so easily after your English hiatus. 1895, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC:
   • In 2017, he wanted to take a brief hiatus from formal studies to pursue his passion for life in the mountains. Ryan and his best friend, James drove to British Columbia to live out a winter season of snowboarding with the full support of their parents. 2026 August 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Ryan Shtuka, 20, Vanished After Leaving a House Party at a Ski Resort in 2018. His Walk Home Was Only 300 Metres”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2026:
3. (countable, uncountable) An temporary break from work, especially one which is unexpected.
4. (countable, uncountable) A gap in geological strata.
   • The beginning of the Mesozoic Era on the Colorado Plateau is marked by a regional hiatus or break of sedimentary deposition that lasted about 25 to 30 Ma. 2012, Chinle Miller, “The Tectonic Forces of the Mesozoic”, in In Mesozoic Lands: The Mesozoic Geology of Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Kindle edition, page 33:
5. (countable, uncountable) An opening in an organ.
   • Hiatus aorticus is an opening in the diaphragm through which aorta and thoracic duct pass.
6. (sometimes, uncountable) A syllable break between two vowels, without an intervening consonant.
   • A hiatus is agreeable to any Polynesian ear; the ear even of the stranger soon grows used to these barbaric voids; but only in the Marquesan will you find such names as Haaii and Paaaeua, when each individual vowel must be separately uttered. 1891 February–December, Robert Louis Stevenson, In the South Seas […], New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, published 1896, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

adductor hiatus · hiatus hernia · hiatused · prehiatus · hiatic · hiatus magnus · hiatal

Synonyms

gap · recess · hiatus · moratorium · cessation · resting · respite · suspension · pause · breather · halt · demurral · caesura · breather · moratorium · lapse · halting · recess · stoppage · stopping · break · interregnum · interruption · break

Translations (132)

pt hiato (anatomy: opening in an organ) · hu szünet (interruption, break or pause) · sv uppehåll (gap in a series) · de Hiatus (anatomy: opening in an organ) · es descanso (temporary break from work) · pt hiato (gap in a series) · tl lusutan (anatomy: opening in an organ) · es pausa (interruption, break or pause) · fr hiatus (gap in a series) · ar فُرْجَة (anatomy: opening in an organ) · de Lücke (gap in a series) · nl hiaat (syllable break between two vowels) · nl vakantie (temporary break from work) · fi hiatus (syllable break between two vowels) · pdt Bruch (interruption, break or pause) · it buco (gap in a series) · es hiato (anatomy: opening in an organ) · fr hiatus (gap in geological strata) · hu hangűr (syllable break between two vowels) · it iato (gap in a series) · es hiato (syllable break between two vowels) · sv hiatus (syllable break between two vowels) · cs mezera (gap in a series) · de Urlaub (temporary break from work) · ka ხტული (interruption, break or pause) · gd hiatas (syllable break between two vowels) · de Hiatus (syllable break between two vowels) · de Hiat (syllable break between two vowels) · sv gap (gap in a series) · gl hiato (gap in a series) · bg празнина (gap in a series) · kmr kortal (anatomy: opening in an organ) · fi tauko (interruption, break or pause) · fi aukko (gap in geological strata) · el χάσμα (gap in a series) · it iato (syllable break between two vowels) · fi hiatus (anatomy: opening in an organ) · es hiato (gap in geological strata) · ota آرالق (interruption, break or pause) · hu kihagyás (gap in a series) · hu hiátus (syllable break between two vowels) · fr hiatus (syllable break between two vowels) · ru тре́щина (gap in geological strata) · de Ferien (temporary break from work) · fi loma (temporary break from work) · la hiatus (anatomy: opening in an organ) · fi aukko (gap in a series) · fr hiatus (anatomy: opening in an organ) · fi keskeytys (interruption, break or pause) · is hljóðgap (gap in a series) · nl lacune (gap in a series) · fi tavunraja (syllable break between two vowels) · de Pause (interruption, break or pause) · sv uppehåll (temporary break from work) · it breccia (gap in geological strata) · it iato (gap in geological strata) · ka შეჩერება (interruption, break or pause) · it periodo sabbatico (interruption, break or pause) · fi aukko (anatomy: opening in an organ) · nl hiaat (gap in a series) · cs přestávka (interruption, break or pause) · bg празнина (temporary break from work) · sv hiatus (anatomy: opening in an organ) · ru хиа́тус (syllable break between two vowels) · el παύση (interruption, break or pause) · hu hézag (gap in a series) · ru зия́ние (syllable break between two vowels) · it vacanza (temporary break from work) · nl gat (interruption, break or pause) · hu megszakítás (interruption, break or pause) · bg прекъсване (interruption, break or pause) · tr sekte (interruption, break or pause) · it periodo sabbatico (temporary break from work) · id hiatus (syllable break between two vowels) · sv hiatus (gap in geological strata) · pl rozziew (syllable break between two vowels) · pt hiato (syllable break between two vowels) · it iato (temporary break from work) · ru про́пуск (gap in a series) · de Hiat (gap in geological strata) · pt lacuna (gap in a series) · ru пробе́л (gap in a series) · it pausa (temporary break from work) · no ferie (temporary break from work) · de Hiat (anatomy: opening in an organ) · cs hiát (anatomy: opening in an organ) · ru лаку́на (gap in a series) · fr lacune (gap in a series) · it iato (interruption, break or pause) · es vacaciones (temporary break from work) · nl pauze (interruption, break or pause) · sv uppehåll (interruption, break or pause) · ast hiatu (syllable break between two vowels) · cs přerušení (interruption, break or pause) · cs skulina (anatomy: opening in an organ) · alt куру јер (gap in a series) · fr discordance (gap in geological strata) · fi vokaaliyhtymä (syllable break between two vowels) · it interruzione (interruption, break or pause) · cs průzev (syllable break between two vowels) · de Unterbrechung (interruption, break or pause) · ca hiat (anatomy: opening in an organ) · hu hangrés (syllable break between two vowels) · el χασμωδία (syllable break between two vowels) · hu szünetelés (interruption, break or pause) · pt hiato (temporary break from work) · es hiato (interruption, break or pause) · hu magánhangzó-torlódás (syllable break between two vowels) · fo ljóðglopp (syllable break between two vowels) · alt божодылып калган јер (gap in a series) · de Auszeit (temporary break from work) · fi rako (anatomy: opening in an organ) · cs pauza (interruption, break or pause) · ru переры́в (interruption, break or pause) · it pausa (interruption, break or pause) · sv avbrott (interruption, break or pause) · it iato (anatomy: opening in an organ) · nl interruptie (interruption, break or pause) · pl luka (gap in a series) · ota آرالق (gap in a series) · ota آرالق (temporary break from work) · it lacuna (gap in a series) · de Unterbrechung (temporary break from work) · ga séanas (syllable break between two vowels) · cs hiát (syllable break between two vowels) · sv vokalmöte (syllable break between two vowels) · nl onderbreking (interruption, break or pause) · ja 中断 (interruption, break or pause) · ka პაუზა (interruption, break or pause) · de Hiatus (gap in geological strata) · nl hiaat (interruption, break or pause) · pl przerwa (interruption, break or pause)