aberration

/ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/

æb · ƏɹEꞮ · ʃn̩ (3 syllables)

English Noun Top 29,805

Definition

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

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.

Example Sentences

"the aberration of youth"
"aberrations from theory"
"aberration of character"