hiatus
noun /haɪˈeɪtəs/
/haɪˈeɪtəs/
[singular] (formal)- a break in activity when nothing happens
- After a five-month hiatus, the talks resumed.
- (specialist) a space, especially in a piece of writing or in a speech, where something is missing
Word Originmid 16th cent. (originally denoting a physical gap): from Latin, literally ‘gaping’, from hiare ‘gape’.