noun
missing text; lacuna; gap in a document
Refers to a missing part in a written work, such as a sentence, passage, or character. Often used in textual criticism or philology.
この写本には欠文が多く、完全な復元は難しい。
This manuscript has many lacunae, making complete restoration difficult.
研究者は欠文を前後の文脈から推測した。
The researcher inferred the missing text from the surrounding context.
Compound of 欠 (lack, missing) and 文 (writing, sentence). The variant 闕文 uses the archaic character 闕, which also means 'lack' or 'missing'.