What does lacunose mean?
Lacunose means marked by gaps, missing portions, or intervals that interrupt an otherwise continuous structure. The word is most often used in formal and specialized contexts: a text may be described as lacunose if passages are missing, while biological or geological material may be lacunose when it contains spaces or cavities. Its sound suggests something incomplete or interrupted rather than merely scattered, and it carries a scholarly tone. In discussion of manuscripts, inscriptions, or literary works, lacunose can draw attention to loss and the traces left by absent material. Although lacunary expresses much the same idea and is more common in general usage, lacunose is especially effective when emphasizing a structure whose continuity has been broken by gaps.
adjectiveHaving gaps, spaces, or discontinuities; sparse or incomplete in structure. In specialized contexts, it describes an arrangement marked by intervening gaps or cavities.
- Having gaps, sparse areas, or missing parts; discontinuous or incomplete.
- Marked by spaces or cavities within a structure, especially in biological or technical contexts.
"The lacunose passage suggests that part of the original text has been lost."
"The surviving lacunose inscription preserves only fragments of the original decree."
"Under magnification, the specimen displayed a highly lacunose network of connective tissue."
A lacunose text is not merely imperfect; its missing spaces can become evidence of history.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does lacunose come from?
Lacunose derives from Latin lacunosus, “full of holes or gaps,” formed from lacuna, meaning “a hole, cavity, or missing portion.” The Latin noun lacuna in turn relates to Latin lacus, “a lake or pool,” by the traditional metaphor of an empty space. The English derivatives lacuna, lacunar, and lacunary preserve this shared sense of an interruption in an otherwise continuous whole.
Related word forms
How lacunose is actually used
This is a formal and relatively uncommon adjective, encountered especially in academic, scientific, textual, and historical writing. Lacunary is usually the more familiar choice in general prose.
Easily confused with lacunose
Both describe gaps or spaces, but lacunary is the more common formal adjective, whereas lacunose is especially used in specialized descriptions of structure or text.
A lacuna is an individual gap or missing passage, while lacunose describes something that contains such gaps or is marked by discontinuities.