apposition

[ ap-uh-zish-uhn ]
See synonyms for apposition on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the act of placing together or bringing into proximity; juxtaposition.

  2. the addition or application of one thing to another thing.

  1. Grammar. a syntactic relation between expressions, usually consecutive, that have the same function and the same relation to other elements in the sentence, the second expression identifying or supplementing the first. In Washington, our first president, the phrase our first president is in apposition with Washington.

  2. Biology. growth of a cell wall by the deposition of new particles in layers on the wall.: Compare intussusception (def. 2).

Origin of apposition

1
1400–50; late Middle English apposicioun<Late Latin appositiōn- (stem of appositiō) <Latin apposit(us) (see apposite) + -iōn--ion

Other words from apposition

  • ap·po·si·tion·al, adjective
  • ap·po·si·tion·al·ly, adverb

Words that may be confused with apposition

Words Nearby apposition

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How to use apposition in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for apposition

apposition

/ (ˌæpəˈzɪʃən) /


noun
  1. a putting into juxtaposition

  2. a grammatical construction in which a word, esp a noun phrase, is placed after another to modify its meaning

  1. biology growth in the thickness of a cell wall by the deposition of successive layers of material: Compare intussusception (def. 2)

Derived forms of apposition

  • appositional, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012