hiatus

What it means

1. countableuncountableA gap in a series, making it incomplete.

   Even the mechanical engineer comes at last to an end of his figures, and must stand up, a practical man, face to face with the discrepancies of nature and the hiatuses of theory.

   1912, Robert Louis Stevenson, Records of a Family of Engineers

   Synonyms: break

2. countableuncountableAn interruption, break, pause or absence.

   The band decided to go on hiatus, citing creative differences.

   3 more examples

   It is wonderful that you should have slipped back into your American life so easily after your English hiatus.

   1895, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, The Stark Munro Letters: […], London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC

   After a ten-year dividend hiatus, shareholder payments only re-started in July 2022.

   2023 December 13, Mel Holley, “Open access operations help to boost First's figures”, in RAIL, number 998, page 20

   In 2017, he wanted to take a brief hiatus from formal studies to pursue his passion for life in the mountains. Ryan and his best friend, James drove to British Columbia to live out a winter season of snowboarding with the full support of their parents.

   2026 August 18, Nicholas Muhoro, “Ryan Shtuka, 20, Vanished After Leaving a House Party at a Ski Resort in 2018. His Walk Home Was Only 300 Metres”, in Skip Boring, archived from the original on 18 Aug 2026

   Synonyms: breather, moratorium, recess, break, breather, cessation, demurral, gap

3. countableuncountableAn temporary break from work, especially one which is unexpected.

In a sentence

Even the mechanical engineer comes at last to an end of his figures, and must stand up, a practical man, face to face with the discrepancies of nature and the hiatuses of theory.

1912, Robert Louis Stevenson, Records of a Family of Engineers

Where it comes from

1. Latinhiātus“opening”
2. Englishhiatus

Learned borrowing from Latin hiātus (“opening”) (mid-16th century), from hiō (“stand open, yawn”).