apposition

American  

[ap-uh-zish-uhn] / ˌæp əˈzɪʃ ən /

noun

1. the act of placing together or bringing into proximity; juxtaposition.

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

3. 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.

4. Biology. growth of a cell wall by the deposition of new particles in layers on the wall.

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apposition British  

/ 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

3. biology growth in the thickness of a cell wall by the deposition of successive layers of material Compare intussusception

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Other Word Forms

• appositional
  adjective
• appositionally
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of apposition

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

Explanation

When you put two things right next to each other, you can call that apposition. The apposition of your dog and your cat makes an adorable photograph. Though you can use the noun apposition to talk about the positioning of objects — or words — close together, it's usually found in scientific or technical writing. In grammar, an apposition occurs when two words or phrases are placed beside each other in a sentence so that one describes or defines the other. An example is the phrase "my dog Woofers," in which "my dog" is in apposition to the name "Woofers."

Related Words

• coherence
• cohesion
• compatibility
• fitness
• harmony
• stability
• steadiness
• uniformity
• unity