Hiat

[hiˈaːt]

/[hiˈaːt]/ noun

The verdict

“Hiat” is uncommon German (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency German
4
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Öffnung, Spalt

Corpus desk

Index DE-hiat · Hiat · German

Hiat · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "H" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for Hiat
PropertyValue
HeadwordHiat
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[hiˈaːt]
Letters4
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Hiat“ im Deutschen

Hiatliegt außerhalb der 100.000 häufigsten deutschen Wörter, im Langschwanz technischer, archaischer oder seltener Formen, genau dort, wo Schreibzweifeln zuschlagen.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Hiat is uncommon German outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed [hiˈaːt]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

Hiat doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct German form is Hiat, spelled H-I-A-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Öffnung, Spalt
  2. 2
    das Zusammentreffen zweier Vokale am Ende des einen und am Anfang des folgenden Wortes oder Wortteils
  3. 3
    zeitliche Lücke bei der Ablagerung von Gesteinen
  4. 4
    übermäßige Sekunde
  5. 5
    Zeitraum ohne archäologische Funde

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how Hiat appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. „Es war, als ob sich zwischen ihn und die Welt eine winzige Lücke geschoben hätte, ein hauchdünner Hiat, durch den ihm die Welt entglitt.“
  2. Das [n] in "amerikanisch" dient dazu, den Hiat [a + ɪ] zu vermeiden.

Synonyms

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Hiat"?
"Hiat" is spelled H-I-A-T. The IPA pronunciation is [hiˈaːt].
What does "Hiat" mean?
As a noun, "Hiat" means: Öffnung, Spalt
How do you pronounce "Hiat"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Hiat" is [hiˈaːt]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Hiat" come from?
"Hiat" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list