Word of the Day

: December 3, 2013

lacuna

noun luh-KOO-nuh

What It Means

1 : a blank space or a missing part : gap; also : deficiency, inadequacy

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

lacuna in Context

The newly discovered Civil War documents will fill many lacunae in the museum's archives.

"There are some peculiar lacunae in this volume, however. While Mr. Ellsworth-Jones quotes from earlier interviews (mainly via e-mail) that Banksy has dispensed over the years to others, he did not bother to submit his own e-mail questions…." - From a book review by Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times, February 8, 2013

Did You Know?

Exploring the etymology of "lacuna" involves taking a plunge into the pit-or maybe a leap into the "lacus" (that's the Latin word for "lake"). Latin speakers modified "lacus" into "lacuna," and used it to mean "pit," "cleft," or "pool." English speakers borrowed the term in the 17th century. It is usually pluralized as "lacunae," as in our example sentences, though "lacunas" is also an accepted variant plural. Another English word that traces its origin to "lacuna" is "lagoon," which came to us by way of Italian and French.