Definition & Meaning of "apposition"in English

Apposition

NOUN

the action of placing two or more things close together or side by side

Examples

The sculpture 's beauty comes from the apposition of contrasting shapes.

Apposition of colors can enhance the overall harmony of the composition.

(in biology) the process by which a cell wall thickens through the sequential deposition of layers of material

Examples

Secondary cell wall formation occurs by apposition in plant xylem.

The biologist observed apposition of cellulose layers under the microscope.

(grammar) the use of two adjacent noun phrases having the same referent that have the same syntactical role in a sentence

What is "apposition"?

Apposition is a grammatical construction where two noun phrases are placed next to each other, with one noun phrase providing additional information about the other. The two phrases usually refer to the same person or thing, and the second phrase clarifies or specifies the first. For example, in the sentence "My brother, a skilled musician, plays the guitar," the phrase "a skilled musician" is in apposition to "my brother," offering more detail about him. Apposition can help provide context or elaboration without needing to create separate sentences, enhancing clarity and depth in communication.

Examples

In linguistics, apposition refers to a grammatical construction where two elements, usually noun phrases, are placed side by side, with one element serving to define or modify the other.

The phrase " Alice, the team leader, addressed the meeting " uses apposition to provide more information about Alice.

Lexical Tree