2. (Biol.) Deviating from the ordinary or natural type; exceptional; abnormal.
The more aberrant any form is, the greater must have been the number of connecting forms which, on
my theory, have been exterminated.
Darwin.
Aberrate
(Ab"er*rate) v. i. [L. aberratus, p. pr. of aberrare; ab + errare to wander. See Err.] To go
astray; to diverge. [R.]
Their own defective and aberrating vision.
De Quincey.
Aberration
(Ab`er*ra"tion) n. [L. aberratio: cf. F. aberration. See Aberrate.]
1. The act of wandering; deviation, especially from truth or moral rectitude, from the natural state, or
from a type. "The aberration of youth." Hall. "Aberrations from theory." Burke.
2. A partial alienation of reason. "Occasional aberrations of intellect." Lingard.
Whims, which at first are the aberrations of a single brain, pass with heat into epidemic form.
I. Taylor.
3. (Astron.) A small periodical change of position in the stars and other heavenly bodies, due to the
combined effect of the motion of light and the motion of the observer; called annual aberration, when
the observer's motion is that of the earth in its orbit, and daily or diurnal aberration, when of the earth
on its axis; amounting when greatest, in the former case, to 20.4'', and in the latter, to 0.3''. Planetary
aberration is that due to the motion of light and the motion of the planet relative to the earth.
4. (Opt.) 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; called spherical aberration, when
due to the spherical form of the lens or mirror, such form giving different foci for central and marginal
rays; and chromatic aberration, when due to different refrangibilities of the colored rays of the spectrum,
those of each color having a distinct focus.
5. (Physiol.) The passage of blood or other fluid into parts not appropriate for it.
6. (Law) The producing of an unintended effect by the glancing of an instrument, as when a shot intended
for A glances and strikes B.
Syn. — Insanity; lunacy; madness; derangement; alienation; mania; dementia; hallucination; illusion; delusion.
See Insanity.
Aberrational
(Ab`er*ra"tion*al) a. Characterized by aberration.
Aberuncate
(Ab`e*run"cate) v. t. [L. aberuncare, for aberruncare. See Averruncate.] To weed out.
[Obs.] Bailey.
Aberuncator
(Ab`e*run"ca*tor) n. A weeding machine.
Abet
(A*bet") v. t. [imp. & p. p. Abetted ; p. pr. & vb. n. Abetting.] [OF. abeter; a (L. ad) + beter
to bait fr. Icel. beita to set dogs on, to feed, originally, to cause to bite, fr. Icel. bita to bite, hence to
bait, to incite. See Bait, Bet.]
1. To instigate or encourage by aid or countenance; — used in a bad sense of persons and acts; as, to
abet an ill-doer; to abet one in his wicked courses; to abet vice; to abet an insurrection. "The whole
tribe abets the villany." South.
Would not the fool abet the stealth,
Who rashly thus exposed his wealth?
Gay.
