Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An empty space or a missing part; a gap: "self-centered in opinion, with curious lacunae of astounding ignorance” ( Frank Norris).
- n. Anatomy A cavity, space, or depression, especially in a bone, containing cartilage or bone cells.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A pit or hollow. Specifically— In bot.:
- n. A gap; a hiatus; especially, a vacancy caused by the omission, loss, or obliteration of something necessary to continuity or completeness.
- n. In conchology, the typical genus of Lacunidæ. L. vincta is a common New England species. This small shell resembles a periwinkle, but. is thinner and of slenderer form; it is of a reddish or brownish horn-color, with two or more darker spiral bands. It is found on the sea-shore, where the animal feeds on algals.
Wiktionary
- n. A small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
- n. An absent part, especially in a book or other piece of writing, often referring to an ancient manuscript or similar.
- n. microscopy A space visible between cells, allowing free passage of light.
- n. linguistics A language gap, which occurs when there is no direct translation in the target language for a lexical term found in the source language
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
- n. (Biol.) A small opening; a small depression or cavity; a space, as a vacant space between the cells of plants, or one of the spaces left among the tissues of the lower animals, which serve in place of vessels for the circulation of the body fluids, or the cavity or sac, usually of very small size, in a mucous membrane.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a blank gap or missing part
- n. an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome
Etymologies
- From Latin lacūna ("ditch, gap"), diminutive form of lacus ("lake"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin lacūna; see lagoon. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“This lacuna is conspicuous when compared to the extensive comparative literature on similar welfare institutions in the advanced industrialized economies of Western Europe and North America.”
“Is this because these spiritual guides of our race are too poor or too over-worked to serve his purpose, or do we perhaps, -- in this regrettable "lacuna" -- stumble upon one of the little smiling prejudices of our great conformist?”
“One of these lacunæ, larger than the rest, is situated on the upper surface of the fossa navicularis; it is called the lacuna magna.”
“Usually she found herself alone in a kind of lacuna, with people moving aside to pass her by at a safe distance.”
“Yet, given this "lacuna," this amazing "gap" in his work, a deprivation much more serious than his want of "philosophy,”
“He's foppish, priapic and urbane, making the word 'lacuna' sound like a decadent holiday destination.”
“a historical missing piece, "lacuna" proves serviceable to Kingsolver in a novel about telling truth in a roiling political climate.”
“Leaving Monserrate off her resume, for whom she began working in 2001 as his campaign manager and then, following his election, as his chief of staff, makes for a gaping lacuna in Councilmember Ferreras's resume.”
“There is a good discussion of astrology and astronomy (Shakespeare was clearly a sceptic of horoscopes), but no mention of witchcraft or other aspects of the supernatural, which is a pretty huge lacuna - from Joan La Pucelle and the sorcerous Duchess in Henry VI 1 and 2, to the deities performing in The Tempest, unearthly powers are never far away.”
“But I've become more interested in filling what I see as a huge lacuna.”
The Huffington Post: Turnstyle: Smaller Is Better: New Models for the Indie Film Market
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘lacuna’.
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Visuals
A list of words which yield surprising, beautiful, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy images here on Wordnik.
photochrom, fufluns, thank you, cool l..., postcard, picture postcard, cricket, physiological ill..., Gakuryū Ishii, ametropia, One Froggy Evening, rhodopsin, Santiago Calatrava and 636 more...
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Iaan
dirigisme, dystopia, cacotopia, ex ante, veritable, indefatigable, curmudgeon, desultory, antediluvian, transmogrify, pendent, elongate and 269 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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wallace
Remington, Windsor, prorector, wen, aver, mottle, seltzer, tepee, lapidary, effete, sotto, presbyopia and 355 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Thresholds
we are all just passing through.
(boundaries, portals and liminal spaces/times)cockcrow, interface, thin line, portal, postern, littoral, interstice, port, membrane, skin, crepuscule, dawn and 304 more...
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cicatrix
scar tissue
minatory, naira, Cluniac, embracive, prolix, hierophant, timorous, adduce, veracious, dysphoric, sang-froid, vitiate and 503 more...
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phrontistery - l
from phrontistery.info
labarum, labefactation, labeorphily, labidometer, labile, lability, labiomancy, labret, labrose, labtebricole, lac, laccolith and 496 more...
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March 2012
panache, evanescent, erogenous, vestibule, malfeasance, lacuna, blithering, incubate, breech, tabernacle, pearly, upholstery and 79 more...
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Open List: SUGGESTIONS FOR THE UNDERS...
Recruiting all Wordieniks to introduce me to their best word friends!! If words were people, this is the list for ones I should meet and ones I will (hopefully) like.
gyre, penultimate, cake, schadenfreude, lacuna, skedaddle, schopfling, morphoanatomy, overscore, swasivious, brightling, phrontisserie and 17 more...
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My favorites
foible, sidereal, amygdala, woodnote, cogitate, silvern, ollalieberry, ramify, diaphanous, surreality, myopia, subcelestial and 75 more...
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....the prison library
// god mandated attempt to realign with the timeless forces of the universe via remastered locution //
desultory, dénouement, demesne, dalliance, chatoyant, antechamber, akimbo, cacography, germane, cuboid, miasma, mordant and 89 more...
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All The Words
I enjoy collecting words, for I have no fear of them ever running out.
anacoluthon, defenestration, hypnopomp, hypnagogue, idioglossia, panopticon, tatterdemalion, abalone, caltrop, miasma, paroxysm, smalt and 475 more...
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 234 more...
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Buttery
Words that make me feel cozy
Noodle, Nugget, Butter, Soft, Snug, Feather, Socks, Knit, Mug, Curl, Billow, Lounge and 315 more...
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Faves
nepenthe, cupidity, anodyne, obdurate, doleful, obsolescent, quale, piquant, velleity, inchoate, disport, facile and 366 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for lacuna.

yarb Beware the creature from the Black Lacuna! May 10, 2008
dontcry Yes, it's just south of Kokomo. May 8, 2008
kewpid Sounds like a holiday destination. May 8, 2008