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Glite Dictionary
✍️ Grammar structure 🌱 Layer growth 🎨 Side-by-side placing
apposition

apposition

8.8
The act of placing things side by side to compare or show differences
  • noun
  • /ˌæpəˈzɪʃən/
translation icon : juxtaposition
  • The teacher explained the concept of apposition using examples from famous literary works.

Examples

  • The artist placed the two paintings in apposition to highlight their contrasting styles.

  • Santayana's remark about those who are ignorant of the past being condemned to repeat it is apposition in this context.

    Academic text (1990)

  • All clear and distinct, no fiddling with or lingering over some sort of "inexhaustible rhetoric of apposition," no Derridian...

    Blog text (10)

  • In the essay, she drew apposition between the economic policies of the 1960s and today.

Synonyms

arrangement
vsapposition
135 2.7

The way things are placed or organized in a place

is specifically about placing items near each other for comparison rather than general order
placement
vsapposition
62 3.5

Putting or arranging things in a particular place

is usually concerned with placing items close together to compare or contrast
juxtaposition
vsapposition
25 9.1

Putting two things side by side to compare or contrast them

is the broader term for putting things near each other for comparison
positioning
vsapposition
14 3.7

Putting something in a particular place to make it work or look better

is done with the specific aim of putting items near each other for contrast
spatial relation
vsapposition
1 5.1

How things are placed in space compared to each other

focuses more narrowly on placing items close for comparison or contrast
collocation
vsapposition
7.3

Putting things next to each other to compare them

is similar but is used as a general alternative rather than a specific label
spatial arrangement
vsapposition
5.3

How things are placed in space near or far from each other

emphasizes closeness for comparison rather than general spatial structure

Antonyms

disconnection
9 4.2

Being separate from people, things, or contact, for example losing internet

separation
8 3.2

The act of putting things into different groups

How Close

contact
371 1.0
apposition
8.8
adjacency
1 6.8
proximity
112 4.2
separation
89 2.6

Surface Forms

apposition singular
appositions plural

Morphology

apposition = position (transparent) = ap + position

The general sense 'the act of placing things side by side' directly follows from 'ap-' (to) + 'position' and is therefore straightforward for learners who know 'position'.

Etymology

Apposition comes from Latin parts ad- 'to' and ponere 'to place', and it shares the same root as position 'place'. That is why apposition can mean placing things side by side, often so we can compare or show contrast.