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.
This manuscript has many lacunae, making complete restoration difficult.
The researcher inferred the missing text from the surrounding context.
欠落 is a general term for a gap or omission in any context, not limited to writing.
Standard modern spelling using 欠 (lack).
Archaic variant using 闕; rarely used in modern Japanese.
Compound of 欠 (lack, missing) and 文 (writing, sentence). The variant 闕文 uses the archaic character 闕, which also means 'lack' or 'missing'.