lacuna
/ləˈk(j)uː.nə/
"lacuna" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lacuna” is an uncommon English word, ranked #65,251 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #65,251
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small opening; a small pit or depression, especially in bone.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lacuna |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ləˈk(j)uː.nə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #65,251 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lacuna” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lacuna is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ləˈk(j)uː.nə/. Corpus data places it at rank #65,251 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
lacuna has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin lacūna (“a ditch, pit; a hollow, cavity; a gap, defect”). Doublet of lacune and lagoon. The correct English form is lacuna, spelled L-A-C-U-N-A.
Definition
- 1A small opening; a small pit or depression, especially in bone.
- 2A small opening; a small pit or depression, especially in bone.
- 3A small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
- 4A small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
- 5A small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
- 6A small blank space; a gap or vacancy; a hiatus.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin lacūna (“a ditch, pit; a hollow, cavity; a gap, defect”). Doublet of lacune and lagoon.
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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “lacuna”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-A-C-U-N-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ləˈk(j)uː.nə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.