lacuna

(lə-kyū'nə)
n., pl., -nae (-nē), or -nas.

1. An empty space or a missing part; a gap: "self-centered in opinion, with curious lacunae of astounding ignorance" (Frank Norris).
2. Anatomy. A cavity, space, or depression, especially in a bone, containing cartilage or bone cells.

[Latin lacūna. See lagoon.]

lacunal la·cu'nal adj.

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Completely blank area on a painting or painted object or manuscript, resulting from any form of damage. On paintings, the cause may be the gradual decay and loss of adhesion of the paint layers, allowing flakes of paint to become detached. Accidental damage can give rise to larger lacunae.

See the Abbreviations for further details.

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noun

An interval during which continuity is suspended: break, gap, hiatus, interim, void. See continue/stop/pause.

lacuna [lă‐kew‐nă] (plural ‐unae or ‐unas), any gap or missing element in a text, usually in a manuscript.

Adjective: lacunal or lacunose.

See also ellipsis, hiatus.

pl. lacunae

Literally a gap, applied to a Classical coffer in a ceiling, cornice-soffit, or any flat, level horizontal underside, a coffer under a cupola being a caisson. Lacunae are often elaborately ornamented with egg-and-dart, bead-and-reel, etc., and laquear is used to express the effect of mouldings separating the margins of panels in coffering.

A small cavity or space, for example, one of the many spaces between the lamellae of bone cells, or the space occupied by a cartilage cell.

a gap

Pl. lacunae [L.]
1. a small pit or hollow cavity.
2. a defect or gap, as in the field of vision (scotoma).

• absorption l. — a pit or groove in developing bone that is undergoing resorption; frequently found to contain osteoclasts.
• bone l. — a small cavity within the bone matrix, containing an osteocyte, and from which slender canaliculi radiate and penetrate the adjacent lamellae to anastomose with the canaliculi of neighboring lacunae, thus forming a system of cavities interconnected by minute canals.
• cartilage l. — any of the small cavities within the cartilage matrix, containing a chondrocyte.
• Howship's l. — the concave cavities which are formed by osteoclasts in the process of bone resorption.
• osseous l. — bone lacuna (see above).
• osteocytic l. — see bone lacuna (above).
• urethral l. — numerous small depressions or pits in the mucous membrane of the urethra.
• vascular l. — a breach in any membrane or other tissue which is navigated by blood vessels.

(ləkōō'nə)
n

A term used in anatomic nomenclature to designate a small hollow cavity or pit.

See words rhyming with "lacuna."

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - lakune, hul, hulrum

Nederlands (Dutch)
lacune, leemte, hiaat, holte

Français (French)
n. - lacune

Deutsch (German)
n. - Lakune, Lücke

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - χάσμα, κενό, (ανατ.) βοθρίον

Italiano (Italian)
lacuna

Português (Portuguese)
n. - lacuna (f)

Русский (Russian)
пробел, лакуна

Español (Spanish)
n. - laguna

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - lakun, lucka, tomrum, hålighet

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
空白, 阙文, 空隙

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 空白, 闕文, 空隙

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 누락 , 공백, 세포간극

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 脱漏, 脱文, 窩, 骨小腔

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تغرة, فجوة‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮חלל, קטע חסר, מקום ריק, מצב אליו החוק לא מתייחס, חלל או שקע בעצם‬

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