aberration

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a state or condition markedly different from the norm
  2. noun a disorder in one's mental state
  3. noun an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image

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.

In classic literature

Synonyms

aberrance, aberrancy, deviance

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