Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Lacuna
‖
La-cu′na
(lȧ-kū′nȧ)
, Noun.
pl. L.
Lacunæ
(lȧ-kū′næ)
; E. Lacunas
(lȧ-kū′nȧz)
. [L., ditch, pit, lake, orig., anything hollow. See
Lagoon
.] 1.
A small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
2.
(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.
Definition 2024
lacuna
lacuna
English
Noun
lacuna (plural lacunae or lacunas)
- A small opening; a small pit or depression; a small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
- An absent part, especially in a book or other piece of writing, often referring to an ancient manuscript or similar such.
- Long lacunae in this inscription make interpretation difficult.
- (microscopy) A space visible between cells, allowing free passage of light.
- (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
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
small opening
|
|
in microscopy
|
|
in linguistics
Latin
Etymology
From lacus (“lake, basin”).
Pronunciation
- (Classical) IPA(key): /laˈkuː.na/, [ɫaˈkuː.na]
Noun
lacūna f (genitive lacūnae); first declension
Inflection
First declension.
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | lacūna | lacūnae |
| genitive | lacūnae | lacūnārum |
| dative | lacūnae | lacūnīs |
| accusative | lacūnam | lacūnās |
| ablative | lacūnā | lacūnīs |
| vocative | lacūna | lacūnae |
Related terms
Descendants
References
- lacuna in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- lacuna in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- LACUNA in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
- Félix Gaffiot (1934), “lacuna”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.
- lacuna in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- lacuna in Ramminger, Johann (accessed 16 July 2016) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700, pre-publication website, 2005-2016