ignifies an opening, chasm, or gap; but it is particularly applied to those verses where one word ends with a vowel, and the following word begins with one, thereby occasioning a disagreeable opening of the mouth, and harshness of sound. The term hiatus is also used in speaking of manuscripts, to denote their defects, or the parts which have been lost or effaced.

HICETAS of Syracuse, an ancient philosopher and astronomer, who taught that the sun and stars were motionless, and that the earth revolved round them. This is mentioned by Cicero, and probably afforded Copernicus the first hint of the true system of the world. He flourished 344 B.C.