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DictionarylacunaGap
noun

lacuna

luh-KYOO-nuh/ləˈkjuːnə/

An empty or missing space within something.

The missing section creates a lacuna in the middle of the manuscript.

Lacuna: close view of an old manuscript leaf with a conspicuous irregular missing section in middle interrupting rows of abstract ink strokes; blank white surface visible through hole, no readable words.
Etymology
lacunaLatinhole, pit; gap

Latin lacuna named a physical hole or pit and also a figurative gap. A missing passage or step in an argument is understood as that kind of empty space.

In context

SOAS University of London16:19
most part the scholars who have usefully mapped the application of coercive human rights have not brought an explicit abolitionist lens to their work and i hope to fill that lacuna with this project
Abolitionist Human Rights (fifth annual Kay Everett Memorial Lecture)

More examples

  • The archive's lacunae make the town's early history difficult to trace.
  • This study fills a lacuna in our knowledge of migration.
  • A lacuna interrupts the inscription just before the king's name.

Forms

lacuna · lacunae · lacunas

Similar words

gap
A more everyday term for an empty or missing space.
void
Often suggests a completely empty space rather than missing content.
omission
Specifically something left out, rather than any empty physical space.