fixation
fixation Lexical Profile
fixation Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An obsessive or unhealthy preoccupation with a particular person, object, or idea.
"His constant fixation on minor administrative details prevented the team from completing the project on time."
The chemical or biological process of converting a gas or volatile substance into a stable, solid, or biologically usable compound (such as nitrogen or carbon fixation), or of preserving tissue specimens for microscopic examination.
"Leguminous plants play a vital ecological role by facilitating nitrogen fixation in the soil through symbiotic bacteria."
In psychoanalytic theory, a persistent attachment to an early stage of psychosexual development or to an object from that stage, inhibiting normal emotional maturation.
"Freudian theory suggests that unresolved childhood conflicts can result in a lasting psychological fixation."
The act of fastening, securing, or immobilizing something in a fixed position (such as fractured bones in orthopedic surgery or the eyes on a single point in visual perception).
"The orthopedic surgeon recommended internal fixation using titanium plates to stabilize the complex fracture."
• Rhymes for fixation
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in the late 14th century from Medieval Latin fixatio, an alchemical term referring to the process of making a volatile substance solid or permanent, derived from Latin fixus ('fastened, settled'). The psychological sense was introduced in the early 20th century through translations of Sigmund Freud's psychoanalytic works.