dislocation

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a serious disturbance that interrupts an established system, activity, or social order

   Wartime shortages caused severe dislocation in transport and industry.

2. 2
   noun

   the displacement of a bone from its normal position in a joint

   The fall caused a painful dislocation of her shoulder.

3. 3
   noun

   a linear defect in the regular atomic structure of a crystal

   The moving dislocation allowed the metal crystal to deform under stress.

Borrowed through French from Medieval Latin dislocatio, from dis- ("apart") + locare ("to place"), based on locus ("place"). The physical sense of putting out of place broadened to disruption of systems and society.

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