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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

aberration

/ˌæbɚˈeɪʃən/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
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Put the main beat on “ra.”

Use four syllables, with the strongest beat on the third. The final tion sounds like shun and stays lighter than the long a vowel before it.

4 syllables · Stress on syllable 3

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The unusual result appeared to be an aberration.

APG practice sentence · CC BY-SA 4.0

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

What does aberration mean?

noun

  1. The act of wandering; deviation from truth, moral rectitude; abnormal; divergence from the straight, correct, proper, normal, or from the natural state.
  2. The convergence to different foci, by a lens or mirror, of rays of light emanating from one and the same point, or the deviation of such rays from a single focus; a defect in a focusing mechanism that prevents the intended focal point.
  3. A small periodical change of the apparent positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer.
More meanings (7)

noun

  1. The tendency of light rays to preferentially strike the leading face of a moving object (the effect underlying the above phenomenon).
  2. A partial alienation of reason.
  3. Any creature with supernatural powers not found in the organized classes of beings in a given setting.
  4. A mental disorder, especially one of a minor or temporary character.
  5. Atypical development or structure; deviation from the normal type; an aberrant organ.
  6. A deviation of a tissue, organ or mental functions from what is considered to be within the normal range.
  7. A defect in an image produced by an optical or electrostatic lens system.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˌæbɚˈeɪʃən/

Pronunciation used in the listening tip.

CMU Pronouncing Dictionary

Other dictionary pronunciations

/ˌæb.əˈɹeɪ.ʃn̩/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Bezenburg has mathematically demonstrated just such an aberration in falling bodies, as is mathematically required by the diurnal motion of the earth.
Andrew Dickson WhiteHistory of the Warfare of Science with Theology in ChristendomProject Gutenberg ebook #505
By what aberration of nomenclature was the name of Lithurgus, a worker in stone, given to insects which work solely in wood?
Jean-Henri FabreBramble-Bees and OthersTranslated by Alexander Teixeira de MattosProject Gutenberg ebook #3421
More book examples (3)
From the standpoint of aberration one could find no evidences of anything but eroticism and a constant tendency to deviate from the truth.
William Healy; Mary Tenney HealyPathology of Lying, Accusation, and Swindling: A Study in Forensic PsychologyProject Gutenberg ebook #449
The correction for the aberration of light is said, on high authority, not to be perfect even in that most perfect organ, the eye.
Charles DarwinOn the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for LifeProject Gutenberg ebook #1228
Flushes, headaches, rheumatic and neuralgic pains, melancholia, irritability, mental aberration, partial paralysis and a multitude of other symptoms appear and gradually increase in severity.
Henry LindlahrNature Cure: Philosophy & Practice Based on the Unity of Disease & CureProject Gutenberg ebook #4273