aberration

A learned borrowing from Latin aberrātiō(n) (“relief, diversion”), first attested in 1594,^[1] from aberrō (“wander away, go astray”), from ab (“away”) + errō (“wander”).^[2] Compare French aberration. By surface analysis, aberrat(e) +‎ -ion.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/

• Audio (US):

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aberration (countable and uncountable, plural aberrations)

1. The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state. [Late 16^th century.]^[3]

   the aberration of youth

   aberrations from theory

   aberration of character

   • 1961 December, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Laindon”, in Trains Illustrated, page 717:

     A derailment which occurred on April 18 last between Laindon and Pitsea on the London Tilbury & Southend Line was caused by a lengthman who in a moment of aberration clipped a set of spring catch points in the derailing position, concludes Col. J. R. H. Robertson in his report […] .

   • 2025 January 10, Peter Thiel, “A time for truth and reconciliation”, in Financial Times‎^[1]:

     Our ancien regime, like the aristocracy of pre-revolutionary France, thought the party would never end. 2016 shook their historicist faith in the arc of the moral universe but by 2020 they hoped to write Trump off as an aberration. In retrospect, 2020 was the aberration, the rearguard action of a struggling regime and its struldbrugg ruler.

2. (optics) 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. [Mid 18^th century.]^[3]
3. (astronomy) 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. [Mid 18^th century.]^[3]
   1. (astronomy, by extension) The tendency of light rays to preferentially strike the leading face of a moving object (the effect underlying the above phenomenon).
4. A partial alienation of reason. [Early 19^th century.]^[3]
   • 1819, John Lingard, The History of England, From the First Invasion by the Romans to the Accession of Henry VIII:

     Occasional aberrations of intellect

   • 1828, Isaac Taylor, The balance of criminality:

     We see indeed the aberrations of unruly appetite

5. (fantasy, roleplaying games) 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.

6. A mental disorder, especially one of a minor or temporary character. [Early 19^th century.]^[3]
7. (zoology, botany) Atypical development or structure; deviation from the normal type; an aberrant organ. [Mid 19^th century.]^[3]
8. (medicine) A deviation of a tissue, organ or mental functions from what is considered to be within the normal range.
9. (electronics) A defect in an image produced by an optical or electrostatic lens system.^[4]

aberration c (singular definite aberrationen, plural indefinite aberrationer)

1. (astronomy) aberration
2. (optics) aberration

• “aberration” in Den Danske Ordbog

Unadapted borrowing from Latin aberrātiō(n) (“relief, diversion”), from aberr(ā) (“wander away, go astray”) (from ab (“away”) + errō (“wander”)) + -tiō(n) (suffix forming nouns relating to actions or their results). Compare English aberration.

• IPA^(key): /a.bɛ.ʁa.sjɔ̃/ ~ /a.be.ʁa.sjɔ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

aberration f (plural aberrations)

1. aberration
2. the state of being aberrant
3. (astronomy) aberration
4. (optics) aberration
5. (physiology) aberration or mutation

• aberrer

• “aberration”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

• abornerait, arboraient