This week’s theme
There’s a word for it

This week’s words
unitasking
allision
middlescence
yeasayer
longlist

---

A.Word.A.Day

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: