lacuna

la·cu·na

noun \lə-ˈkü-nə, -ˈkyü-\

plural la·cu·nae\-ˈkyü-(ˌ)nē, -ˈkü-ˌnī\ also la·cu·nas\-ˈkü-nəz, -ˈkyü-\

Definition of LACUNA

1

: a blank space or a missing part : gap <the evident lacunae in his story — Shirley Hazzard>; also : deficiency 1 <despite all these lacunae, those reforms were a vast improvement — New Republic>

2

: a small cavity, pit, or discontinuity in an anatomical structure

— la·cu·nar \-ˈkü-nər, -ˈkyü-\ also la·cu·nate \lə-ˈkü-nət, -ˈkyü-, -ˌnāt; ˈla-kyə-ˌnāt\ adjective

Examples of LACUNA

1. She found a lacuna in the historical record.
2. <attributes many of the nation's problems to a lacuna of leadership at the top>

Origin of LACUNA

Latin, pool, pit, gap — more at lagoon

First Known Use: 1652

Related to LACUNA

Synonyms: crunch, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, deficiency, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want

Antonyms: abundance, adequacy, amplitude, opulence, plenitude, plenty, sufficiency, wealth

Related Words: absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privation

Near Antonyms: bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplus

see all synonyms and antonyms

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