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Jul 25, 2017
This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
unitasking
allision
middlescence
yeasayer
longlist

allision
M/V Rio Haina’s allision with the breakwall
Miami Beach Marina, Jun 22, 2008
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

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A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Garg

allision

PRONUNCIATION:
(uh-LIZH-uhn)

MEANING:
noun: The act of a moving object striking against a stationary object.

ETYMOLOGY:
From Latin allidere (to strike against), from ad- (toward) + laedere (to harm). Earliest documented use: 1615 (collision is also from 1615).

NOTES:
In maritime usage, the term allision is used for a vessel striking a fixed object, while collision is between two moving ships. Frequently, the word collision is used in both cases.

USAGE:
“She watched the beam of the flashlight play dully over the surface, and then she heard something, a faint splash, the sweet allision of breaking water.”
T.C. Boyle; East Is East; Penguin; 1991.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Absolute faith corrupts as absolutely as absolute power. -Eric Hoffer, philosopher and author (25 Jul 1902-1983)

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