apposition
/ˌæpəˈzɪʃn̩/noun
apposition is spelled A-P-P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N: 10 letters. It appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, apposition means “A construction in which one noun or noun phrase is placed with another as an explanatory equivalent, both of them having the same syntactic function…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of apposition is appositions.
How many letters and syllables are in apposition?
| Letters | 10: A-P-P-O-S-I-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 17 million words; the 122,704th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is apposition?
Apposition appears about once in every 17 million words in written English, the 122,704th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce apposition?
- /ˌæpəˈzɪʃn̩/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-apposition.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of apposition
- appositions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does apposition mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A 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.
- 2
The relationship between such nouns or noun phrases.
- 3
The quality of being side by side, apposed instead of opposed, next to each other.
- 4
A placing of two things side by side, or the fitting together of two things.
- 5
The growth of successive layers of a cell wall.
- 6
Appositio, the addition of an element not syntactically required.
- 7
A public disputation by scholars.
- 8
UKA (now purely ceremonial) speech day at St Paul's School, London.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Apposition in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense grammatical construction:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | apposition |
| German | Apposition, Beisatz, Beifügung |
| Portuguese | aposição, aposto |
| Spanish | aposición |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does apposition come from?
From Middle English apposicioun, from Middle French apposition, from Latin appositiō, past participle of appōnere (“to put near”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).