US /fɪkˈseɪʃən/ UK /fɪkˈseɪʃən/
noun Freq #24054

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    an intense or obsessive preoccupation with a person, idea, or thing

    His fixation on minor errors prevented him from finishing the report.

  2. 2
    noun

    the act of fixing, setting, or fastening something in a definite position or at a definite value

    The law transferred fixation of the interest rate from local officials to the central council.

  3. 3
    noun

    the preservation and stabilization of biological tissue for microscopic examination

    Rapid fixation preserved the tissue before the laboratory prepared the slides.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · an intense or obsessive... obsessionpreoccupationmania
2 noun · the act of fixing, setting,... fixingsettingfastening
3 noun · the preservation and... tissue preservationfixing
Word family
Derived forms fixational
Related forms fixfixatefixed

Etymology

From French fixation and Medieval Latin fixatio, from Latin fixus ('fastened, fixed'), the past participle of figere ('to fasten'). The psychological sense treats attention as if it were fastened to one object.

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