aberration

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Something that is very different from what is normal or expected; a one-off departure from the usual.

   His angry outburst was an aberration; he is normally very calm.

2. 2
   noun

   A flaw in a lens or mirror that produces a blurred or distorted image.

   The telescope's blurry images were caused by an optical aberration.

3. 3
   noun

   A temporary disorder or confusion of the mind.

   In a moment of mental aberration, she forgot her own address.

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.

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