aberration

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state.

   the aberration of youth

2. 2
   noun

   A partial alienation of reason.

   Occasional aberrations of intellect

3. 3
   noun

   Any creature with supernatural powers not found in the organized classes of beings in a given setting.

   Only by submitting to the aberration could the human traders travel safely through the territory of Zularn.

4. 4
   noun

   an optical phenomenon resulting from the failure of a lens or mirror to produce a good image

5. 5
   noun

   a disorder in one's mental state

6. 6
   noun

   a state or condition markedly different from the norm

7. 7
   noun

   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.

8. 8
   noun

   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.

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.