Meanings
plural appositions
- countableuncountablegrammarA construction in which one noun or noun phrase is placed with another as an explanatory equivalent, both of them having the same syntactic function in the sentence.
The apposition in the title has been read as indicating that ‘Hobson-Jobson’ is equivalent to ‘colloquial Anglo-Indian words and phrases’.
2014, James Lambert, “A Much Tortured Expression: A New Look At `Hobson-Jobson'”, in International Journal of Lexicography, volume 27, number 1, page 65Synonyms: parathesis
- countableuncountablegrammarThe relationship between such nouns or noun phrases.
- countableuncountableThe quality of being side by side, apposed instead of opposed, next to each other.
- countableuncountableA placing of two things side by side, or the fitting together of two things.
- countableuncountablebiologyThe growth of successive layers of a cell wall.
- countablerhetoricuncountableAppositio, the addition of an element not syntactically required.
- countableuncountableA public disputation by scholars.
- UKcountableuncountableA (now purely ceremonial) speech day at St Paul's School, London.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA construction in which one noun or noun phrase is placed with another as an explanatory equivalent, both of them having the same syntactic function in the sentence.
More synonyms by meaning
nounthe act of positioning close together (or side by side)
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinappositiō
- Middle Frenchapposition
- Middle Englishapposicioun
- Englishapposition
From Middle English apposicioun, from Middle French apposition, from Latin appositiō, action noun of appōnere (“to put near”).
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic بدل
- بدل (badal)grammatical construction
Bulgarian приложение
- приложение (priloženie)grammatical construction
Catalan aposició, aposició
- aposiciógrammatical construction
- aposicióplacing of two things side by side
- aposicióbiology: growth of successive layers of cell wall
Chinese Mandarin 同位語 /同位语
- 同位語 /同位语 (tóngwèiyǔ)grammatical construction
Czech přístavek
- přístavekgrammatical construction
Danish navnetillæg, navnesamstilling
- navnetillæggrammatical construction
- navnesamstillinggrammatical construction
Dutch bijstelling, appositie
- bijstellinggrammatical construction
- appositiegrammatical construction
Finnish appositio, rinnastus
- appositiogrammatical construction
- rinnastusgrammatical construction
- rinnasteisuusrelationship in such construction
- rinnakkaisuusquality of being side by side
- rinnastaminenplacing of two things side by side
- appositiobiology: growth of successive layers of cell wall
- kerrostuminenbiology: growth of successive layers of cell wall
French apposition
- appositiongrammatical construction
German Apposition, Beisatz
- Appositiongrammatical construction
- Beisatzgrammatical construction
- Beifügunggrammatical construction
- Appositionbiology: growth of successive layers of cell wall
Greek παράθεση
- παράθεση (paráthesi)grammatical construction
Irish comhaisnéis
- comhaisnéisgrammatical construction
Italian apposizione
- apposizionegrammatical construction
Japanese 同格
- 同格 (dōkaku)grammatical construction
Korean 동격
- 동격 (donggyeok)grammatical construction
Polish apozycja, apozycja
- apozycjagrammatical construction
- apozycjabiology: growth of successive layers of cell wall
Portuguese aposição, aposto
- aposiçãogrammatical construction
- apostogrammatical construction
- aposiçãoquality of being side by side
- aposiçãoplacing of two things side by side
- aposiçãobiology: growth of successive layers of cell wall
Romanian apoziție
- apozițiegrammatical construction
Russian приложе́ние
- приложе́ние (priložénije)grammatical construction
Spanish aposición
- aposicióngrammatical construction
Swedish apposition, apposition
- appositiongrammatical construction
- appositionrelationship in such construction
Ukrainian прикладка, апозиція
- прикладка (prykladka)grammatical construction
- апозиція (apozycija)grammatical construction
Cite this entry
apposition. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apposition
“apposition.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apposition. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “apposition,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/apposition.
Source: apposition on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.