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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. An empty space or a missing part; a gap: "self-centered in opinion, with curious lacunae of astounding ignorance” ( Frank Norris).
  2. n. Anatomy A cavity, space, or depression, especially in a bone, containing cartilage or bone cells.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A pit or hollow. Specifically— In bot.:
  2. n. A gap; a hiatus; especially, a vacancy caused by the omission, loss, or obliteration of something necessary to continuity or completeness.
  3. 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

  1. n. A small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
  2. n. An absent part, especially in a book or other piece of writing, often referring to an ancient manuscript or similar.
  3. n. A space visible between cells, allowing free passage of light.
  4. n. 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

  1. n. A small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
  2. n. 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

  1. n. a blank gap or missing part
  2. n. an ornamental sunken panel in a ceiling or dome

Etymologies

  1. Latin lacūna; see lagoon.

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.”

    La Profesora Abstraida

  • “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?”

    Suspended Judgments Essays on Books and Sensations

  • “One of these lacunæ, larger than the rest, is situated on the upper surface of the fossa navicularis; it is called the lacuna magna.”

    XI. Splanchnology. 3b. 4. The Male Urethra

  • “Usually she found herself alone in a kind of lacuna, with people moving aside to pass her by at a safe distance.”

    The Year's Best Science Fiction 23rd Annual Collection

  • “Yet, given this "lacuna," this amazing "gap" in his work, a deprivation much more serious than his want of "philosophy,”

    Visions and Revisions A Book of Literary Devotions

  • “He's foppish, priapic and urbane, making the word 'lacuna' sound like a decadent holiday destination.”

    Evening Standard - Home

  • “a historical missing piece, "lacuna" proves serviceable to Kingsolver in a novel about telling truth in a roiling political climate.”

    Tucson Weekly

  • “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.”

    The Huffington Post: Henry J. Stern: Hiram and Julissa

  • “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.”

    Linkspam for 19-8-2009

  • “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

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Lists

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Comments

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  • 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

‘lacuna’ has been looked up 2836 times, loved by 19 people, added to 121 lists, commented on 3 times, and has a Scrabble score of 8.