| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| aberration |
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| SYLLABICATION: | ab·er·ra·tion |
| PRONUNCIATION: |   b  -r  shn |
| NOUN: | 1. A deviation from the proper or expected course. See synonyms at deviation. 2. A departure from the normal or typical: events that were aberrations from the norm. 3. Psychology A disorder or abnormal alteration in one's mental state. 4a. A defect of focus, such as blurring in an image. b. An imperfect image caused by a physical defect in an optical element, as in a lens. 5. The apparent displacement of the position of a celestial body in the direction of motion of an observer on Earth, caused by the motion of Earth and the finite velocity of light. 6. Genetics A deviation in the normal structure or number of chromosomes in an organism. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Latin aberrti , aberrtin-, diversion, from aberrtus, past participle of aberrre, to go astray : ab-, away from; see ab–1 + errre, to stray; see ers- in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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