Aberrations

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Departures from what is considered typical or standard; disruptions that signal unexpected changes in behavior or condition; instances that reflect significant differences from prevailing patterns or norms
2. Occurrences that stray from the usual or anticipated standards or norms
3. Examples of things that differ sharply from what is regularly accepted or predicted

Etymology: "Aberrations" is the plural of "aberration," and the plural is a useful reminder of the original image. The root verb "aberrō" meant "wander away" or "go astray," built from "ab" ("away") and "errō" ("wander"). The same "errō" gave English "error," so the two words share a common ancestor in the idea of wandering off a path. English took the noun directly from Latin "aberrātiō," a learned borrowing first recorded in 1594, and the Latin word itself had a surprisingly gentle sense: "relief" or "diversion," as in a turning aside from something burdensome. The meaning of straying from a standard came later, when the notion of wandering from the expected course became the dominant one. French "aberration" followed a similar path, and English adopted the word in its scholarly, deviation-from-the-norm sense.

Synonyms: deviations, anomalies, irregularities, divergences, exceptions

Antonyms: normalities, regularities, conformities, uniformities, standards