English

Etymology

Latin aberratio : compare French aberration. See Aberrate

Noun

1. The act of wandering; deviation, especially from truth or moral rectitude, from the natural state, or from a type.

   Quotations

   • The aberration of youth - Hall
   • Aberrations from theory - Burke

2. A partial alienation of reason.

   Quotations

   • Occasional aberrations of intellect - Lingard
   • Whims, which at first are the aberrations of a single brain, pass with heat into epidemic form - I. Taylor

3. (Astronomy): A small periodical change of position in the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer; called annual aberration, when the observer's motion is that of the earth in its orbit, and daily or diurnal aberration, when of the earth on its axis; amounting when greatest, in the former case, to 20.4"" ;, and in the latter, to 0.3"". Planetary aberration is that due to the motion of light and the motion of the planet relative to the earth.
4. (Optics): 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; called spherical aberration, when due to the spherical form of the lens or mirror, such form giving different foci for central and marginal rays; and chromatic aberration, when due to different refrangibilities of the colored rays of the spectrum, those of each color having a distinct focus.
5. (Physiology): The passage of blood or other fluid into parts not appropriate for it.
6. (Law): The producing of an unintended effect by the glancing of an instrument, as when a shot intended for A glances and strikes B.

Synonyms

• Insanity; lunacy; madness; derangement ; alienation; mania; dementia ; hallucination; illusion; delusion. See Insanity.

Translations

• Finnish: poikkeavuus , poikkeama , poikkeaminen , erehdys (1,2), optinen aberraatio (4)
• French: aberration
• German: Abweichung
• Hungarian: aberráció
• Irish: seachrán m1 (1,2), iomrall m1 (1,2,3,4)
• Interlingua: aberration
• Italian: aberrazione
• Norwegian: avvik n, villfarelse c
• Portuguese: aberração
• Spanish: aberración

Romanica

Noun

aberration f

1. aberration