aberration
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/
Forms: form: aberrations
Etymology: A learned borrowing from Latin aberrātiō(n) (“relief, diversion”), first attested in 1594, from aberrō (“wander away, go astray”), from ab (“away”) + errō (“wander”). Compare French aberration. By surface analysis, aberrat(e) + -ion.
Senses: examples: text: the aberration of youth
text: aberrations from theory
text: aberration of character
text: A derailment which occurred on April 18 last between Laindon and Pitsea on the London Tilbury & Southend Line was caused by a lengthman who in a moment of aberration clipped a set of spring catch points in the derailing position, concludes Col. J. R. H. Robertson in his report […].
ref: 1961 December, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Laindon”, in Trains Illustrated, page 717:
text: Our ancien regime, like the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France, thought the party would never end. 2016 shook their historicist faith in the arc of the moral universe but by 2020 they hoped to write Trump off as an aberration. In retrospect, 2020 was the aberration, the rearguard action of a struggling regime and its struldbrugg ruler.
ref: 2025 January 10, Peter Thiel, “A time for truth and reconciliation”, in Financial Times:
glosses: The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state.
topics: engineering
natural-sciences
optics
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; a defect in a focusing mechanism that prevents the intended focal point.
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: A small periodical change of the apparent positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer.
topics: astronomy
natural-sciences
glosses: A small periodical change of the apparent positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer.
The tendency of light rays to preferentially strike the leading face of a moving object (the effect underlying the above phenomenon).
examples: text: Occasional aberrations of intellect
ref: 1819, John Lingard, The History of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Henry VIII:
text: We see indeed the aberrations of unruly appetite
ref: 1828, Isaac Taylor, The balance of criminality:
glosses: A partial alienation of reason.
examples: text: Only by submitting to the aberration could the human traders travel safely through the territory of Zularn.
topics: fantasy
qualifier: roleplaying games
glosses: Any creature with supernatural powers not found in the organized classes of beings in a given setting.
glosses: A mental disorder, especially one of a minor or temporary character.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
zoology
glosses: Atypical development or structure; deviation from the normal type; an aberrant organ.
topics: medicine
sciences
glosses: A deviation of a tissue, organ or mental functions from what is considered to be within the normal range.
topics: business
electrical-engineering
electricity
electromagnetism
electronics
energy
engineering
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
physics
glosses: A defect in an image produced by an optical or electrostatic lens system.
Derived terms: aberratic
aberrational
aberrationless
aberration of light
annual aberration
chromatic aberration
crown of aberration
diopteric aberration
diurnal aberration
lateral aberration
longitudinal aberration
mental aberration
microaberration
planetary aberration
spherical aberration