aberration
Pronunciation: /ˌabəˈreɪʃ(ə)n/
noun
- a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically an unwelcome one: they described the outbreak of violence in the area as an aberration I see these activities as some kind of mental aberration
- Biology a characteristic that deviates from the normal type: colour aberrations
- Optics the failure of rays to converge at one focus because of a defect in a lens or mirror.
- Astronomy the apparent displacement of a celestial object from its true position, caused by the relative motion of the observer and the object.
Origin:
late 16th century: from Latin aberratio(n-), from aberrare 'to stray' (see aberrant)
Spelling help
Remember that aberration has one b and a double r.