noun
missing character; omitted character; blank type
Refers to a character that should be present but is missing, or the act of omitting it. Often contrasted with 脱字 (dropped character) and 誤字 (wrong character).
See also: 脱字
校正で欠字を見つけた。
I found a missing character during proofreading.
この文書には欠字が多くて読みにくい。
This document has many omitted characters and is hard to read.
noun
respectful blank space before and after names of dignitaries
Historical practice in formal writing where blank spaces were inserted around the names of high-ranking individuals as a mark of respect. Not used in modern Japanese.
古文書では、貴人の名の前後に欠字が用いられた。
In old documents, blank spaces were used before and after the names of nobles.
Compound of 欠 (lack, missing) and 字 (character). The historical respectful spacing sense derives from the same idea of 'leaving a blank'.