hiatus
/haɪˈeɪtəs/noun
hiatus is spelled H-I-A-T-U-S: 6 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, hiatus means “A gap in a series, making it incomplete” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of hiatus is hiatuses; Wiktionary also lists hiati (nonstandard).
How many letters and syllables are in hiatus?
| Letters | 6: H-I-A-T-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is hiatus?
Hiatus appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce hiatus?
- US /haɪˈeɪtəs/
- /hɐˈjaː.t̪ʊs/
Hiatus has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-hiatus.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with hiatus?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as hiatus from its last stressed vowel (/eɪtəs/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of hiatus
- hiatuses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does hiatus mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A gap in a series, making it incomplete.
- 2
An interruption, break, pause or absence.
The band decided to go on hiatus, citing creative differences.
- 3
An temporary break from work, especially one which is unexpected.
- 4
A gap in geological strata.
- 5
An opening in an organ.
Hiatus aorticus is an opening in the diaphragm through which aorta and thoracic duct pass.
- 6
A syllable break between two vowels, without an intervening consonant.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Hiatus in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | hiatus, lacune , discordance |
| German | Lücke , Unterbrechung, Pause , Urlaub, Ferien |
| Portuguese | hiato, lacuna |
| Spanish | pausa, hiato , vacaciones, descanso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does hiatus come from?
Learned borrowing from Latin hiātus (“opening”) (mid-16th century), from hiō (“stand open, yawn”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).