Hiatus

[hiˈaːtʊs]

/[hiˈaːtʊs]/ noun

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency German
6
letters

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

Corpus desk

Index DE-hiatus · Hiatus · German

Hiatus · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 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 Hiatus
PropertyValue
HeadwordHiatus
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[hiˈaːtʊs]
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Langschwanz-Rang von „Hiatus“ im Deutschen

Hiatusliegt 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

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

No generated misspelling entries exist for Hiatus in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct German form is Hiatus, spelled H-I-A-T-U-S.

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 Hiatus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Das [n] in "amerikanisch" dient dazu, den Hiatus [a + ɪ] zu vermeiden.
  2. „Nach dem lateinischen Vorbilde bemühte sich Otfried, bei Zusammenstoß von Vokalen den Hiatus durch Auslassungen zu vermeiden.“

Synonyms

This word in other languages

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 "Hiatus"?
"Hiatus" is spelled H-I-A-T-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is [hiˈaːtʊs].
What does "Hiatus" mean?
As a noun, "Hiatus" means: Öffnung, Spalt
How do you pronounce "Hiatus"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Hiatus" is [hiˈaːtʊs]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Hiatus" come from?
"Hiatus" is a German word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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