la|cu|na

la|cu|na «luh KYOO nuh», noun, plural -nae «-nee», -nas.

1. a) an empty space; gap: »

There was a lacuna in the old letter where the ink had faded.

b) Figurative: »

[He] has sought to fill, with this elegant collection of essays, a serious and regrettable lacuna in Italian studies (Saturday Review). Every teacher knows that the week before and after vacation is largely lost to study…This means almost a month's lacuna (New York Times).

SYNONYM(S): hiatus.

2. a tiny cavity or depression in bones or tissues.

3. space in or among the cells of an animal or plant.

╂[< Latin lacūna hole, pit < lacus, -ūs cistern, lake. See etym. of doublet lagoon. (Cf. ↑lagoon)]