apposition
noun
Origin:
late Middle English: from late Latin appositio(n-), from apponere 'to apply' (see apposite)
Grammar
It is possible to place one noun or noun phrase next to another one in a sentence, so that it explains or amplifies it. For example:The writer Michael Viney left Dublin 13 years ago to live a life of peace and self-sufficiency in a remote house. Here the short phrases the writer and Michael Viney work in parallel. They are said to be in apposition to each other.In the example above, the sentence would work grammatically with only one of the phrases:The writer left Dublin 13 years ago to live a life of peace and self-sufficiency in a remote house. Michael Viney left Dublin 13 years ago to live a life of peace and self-sufficiency in a remote house. But neither of these alternative versions is completely satisfactory. The first leads us to ask, ‘Which writer?’, while the second prompts: ‘Who is Michael Viney?’See also parenthesis.