apposition

[ ap-uh-zish-uhn ]

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. Compare intussusception ( def 2 ).

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

Derived Forms

• ˌappoˈsitional, adjective

Other Words From

• appo·sition·al adjective
• appo·sition·al·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of apposition¹

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

Example Sentences

They’ve cohered through wet-on-wet mixing into a strange, alienating hybrid color, made even stranger by the apposition of equally thick background strokes of soiled coral.

From New York Times

But other elements were recognizable, like the flat vowels and the plaid shirts and the helpful practicality, like the lonesomeness of the undifferentiated plains, like the apposition of wilderness and chain stores.

From New York Times

The united probe glows wherever two organelles come into close apposition.

From Nature

In her analysis of the causes of repression in her society, Ms. Alexeyeva consistently disputed any neat apposition of Russian despots and Western democratic leaders.

From New York Times

With its unbalanced nouns in apposition, the film’s title hints at the absurdity of the way human beings think.

From The New Yorker

Related Words

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