fixationn.
/fɪkˈseɪʃn/, U.S. /fɪkˈseɪʃən/ 1.
a. The action of fixing, in various senses (see fix v.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > [noun]
layingc1330
pitchinga1398
settinga1398
couchingc1400
stowingc1440
placingc1449
stelling1560
disposition1563
location1568
planting1585
situation1589
collocation1605
situating1611
disposurea1625
depositure1635
allodgement1639
instalment1646
fixation1652
deposition1659
lodgement1713
repositing1713
emplacement1742
bestowal1773
locating1774
disposal1828
placement1844
allocation1846
enlodgement1884
siting1902
the world > matter > colour > colouring > dyeing > [noun] > processes or techniques > process of making fast
fixation1652
burning on1784
the world > relative properties > kind or sort > individual character or quality > the quality of being specific > [noun] > quality of being determined or specified > specification of something desired or decided on
nomination1597
fixation1776
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > [noun] > soil conservation
soil sample1902
soil sampling1927
soil conservation1932
fixation1953
society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > constructing or working with wood > [noun] > seasoning or preserving
beathing1591
seasoninga1642
natural seasoning1856
impregnation1872
Burnettizing1885
fuming1893
haskinization1899
Rueping1904
full-cell1909
Powellizing1913
pressure treatment1914
pressure-treating1924
fixation1968
boucherizing-
1652 P. Heylyn Cosmographie i. sig. K4 The fixation of the Popes in the Metropolis.
1671 F. Philipps Regale Necessarium 67 After the fixation of the Common Pleas or Actions of the people to a certain place in the Kings Palace at Westminster.
1671 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 6 2132 Some observations, touching Colours, in order to the Increase of Dyes, and the Fixation of Colours.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. ii. iv. 434 If this legal rate should be fixed below the lowest market rate, the effects of this fixation must be [etc.] . View more context for this quotation
1821 J. Bentham Elements Art of Packing 90 The fixation of the punishment not lying within the province of the jury.
a1859 J. Austin Lect. Jurispr. (1879) II. lvi. 924 Procure the fixation of the stamp to the evidentiary instrument.
1864 F. C. Bowen Treat. Logic iv. 84 Language..has an important influence in the regulation and fixation of Thought.
1874 W. B. Carpenter Princ. Mental Physiol. (1879) i. i. §20. 21 The ‘training’..mainly consists in the fixation of the Attention on the audible result.
1886 J. S. Blackie What does Hist. Teach? 24 The fixation of the order of succession to the throne.
1953 Brit. Commonw. Forest Terminol.: Pt. I (Empire Forestry Assoc.) 56 Fixation, the process of stabilizing soil, particularly shifting sand, against erosion.
1968 Gloss. Terms Timber Preservation (B.S.I.) 21 Fixation, the act or state of fixing a preservative in the timber so that it will not leach.
1971 Novum Testamentum Jan. 56 The fixation in writing of a cycle of oral tradition.
1971 Nature 2 Apr. 289/1 Species formation through genetic divergence and its fixation by reproductive isolating mechanisms is a slow process.
b. The fact or condition of being fixed.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > attention > [noun]
gomec1175
thoughtc1175
tenta1300
curec1300
intentc1320
keepa1325
heed1357
attendancec1374
attentionc1374
aspect1393
marka1400
notea1400
advertencea1413
markingc1443
regard1457
advertisementc1487
noticec1487
attent?a1500
advertation?c1500
respect1509
garda1569
intendiment1590
on-waiting1590
attend1594
tendment1597
attending1611
fixationa1631
adversion1642
heeding1678
attendancya1680
perpensity1704
observe1805
intending1876
the mind > will > decision > constancy or steadfastness > [noun]
steadfastnessa1000
anrednessOE
stead-stathelfastness?c1225
stability13..
steadfastshipc1320
traistnessa1340
constance1340
sadnessc1384
unmovablenessc1384
hardnessa1400
steadfastheadc1400
unmobletya1425
firmitya1450
constancy1526
constantness1530
firmitude?1541
firmness1553
stoutness1561
settledness1571
cleaving1580
solidity1607
immovableness1617
staunchness1623
fixedness1626
fixationa1631
unswayednessa1656
steadiness1663
sturdiness1675
unbendingness1824
indomitability1851
indomitableness1860
thick and thin1884
fixity1885
unshakability1907
the world > space > place > position or situation > [noun] > fixed or stable > fact or condition of
fixationa1631
the world > matter > colour > colouring > colouring matter > [noun] > dye > mordant or fixative > stability of colour
fixationa1631
substantivity1923
the world > movement > absence of movement > [noun] > condition of remaining in one place
fixure1603
stability1625
fixedness1647
lying1683
stationariness1727
fixation1894
staticness1940
the world > movement > absence of movement > [noun] > stability > condition of being firmly fixed
fastnesseOE
firmitya1450
stablishness1530
firmitude?1541
steadfastnessa1542
firmness1600
fixure1603
security1770
fixation1894
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1958) IX. 176 Three Enemies to that fixation and intireness of the Heart.
1660 T. Fuller Mixt Contempl. i. xlix. 76 Which giveth the fixation to a colour, and setteth it in the cloth.
1683 J. Fitzwilliam Let. in Lady Russell Lett. (1773) 9 When your thoughts have been saddened..by a long fixation on the doleful object.
1831 T. Carlyle in Foreign Q. Rev. Oct. 383 Yet it had attained no fixation or consistency.
1894 Westm. Gaz. 17 Jan. 7/2 The first of a course of lectures on locomotion and fixation in plants and animals.
c. A fixed habitation or location (obsolete); a fixed proportion or standard.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > dwelling place or abode > [noun]
resteOE
worthineeOE
settlea900
wickc900
houseOE
erdinga1000
teld-stedec1000
wonningc1000
innOE
bewistc1200
setnessc1200
wanea1225
i-holda1250
wonec1275
wunselec1275
wonning-place1303
bigginga1325
wonning-stede1338
tabernaclea1340
siegec1374
dwelling-placec1380
lodgingc1380
seea1382
tabernaclea1382
habitationc1384
mansionc1385
arresta1400
bowerc1400
wonning-wanec1400
lengingc1420
tenementc1425
tentc1430
abiding placea1450
mansion place1473
domicile1477
lendingc1480
inhabitance1482
biding-place?1520
seat1535
abode1549
remainingc1550
soil1555
household1585
mansion-seata1586
residing1587
habitance1590
fixation1614
situation?1615
commoratorya1641
haft1785
location1795
fanea1839
inhabitancy1853
habitat1854
occupancy1864
nivas1914
downsetting1927
the world > space > place > position or situation > [noun] > fixed or stable
footing1567
foothold1577
fixure1603
fixation1614
ubi1614
handhold1643
the world > relative properties > order > agreement, harmony, or congruity > conformity to or with a pattern, etc. > [noun] > a standard or norm > fixed
fixation1774
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. i. i. §7. 10 For to Light created in the first day God gaue no proper place or fixation.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Suff. 68 He..was buried at York far..from Ipswich his first fixation.
1774 B. Franklin & G. Whately Princ. Trade App. 8 No everlasting, invariable fixation for coining can be made.
1836 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. 39 63 The Prussian tariff pretends to proceed upon an ad valorem fixation.
2. † b. The quality or condition of being non-volatile or able to resist the action of fire. Obsolete.† c. concrete. A product of fixation. Obsolete.
a. esp. in scientific uses: The action of depriving of volatility or fluidity: see fix v. 4 †In Alchemy: The process of reducing a volatile spirit or essence to a permanent bodily form; the conversion (of mercury) into a solid by amalgamation or combination. In modern use: The process of rendering solid a liquid or semi-liquid substance; coagulation; also, the process of causing (a gas) to combine with a solid.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > fixation > alchemical
fixation1393
the world > matter > chemistry > physical chemistry > phases > [noun] > phase transitions > specific
sublimationa1393
fixation1393
liquefaction1477
fusion1555
condensation1614
congealing1762
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > fixation > of mercury
fixation1594
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > fixation > of a liquid
fixation1661
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > fixation > of a gas
fixation1813
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 86 Do that there be fixation With tempred hetes of the fire.
1477 T. Norton Ordinall of Alchimy in E. Ashmole Theatrum Chem. Britannicum (1652) 58 Without him Generation shall be none; Neyther of our Tinctures fixation.
1576 G. Baker tr. C. Gesner Newe Jewell of Health iii. f. 166v This besides serueth for fixation, in Alchimye matters.
1594 H. Plat Jewell House 88 For the better fixation of the Mercurie.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. iii. sig. D4v Two Of our inferiour workes, are at fixation . View more context for this quotation
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica ii. i. 50 The determination of quick-silver is properly fixation . View more context for this quotation
1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing v. 47 Salt dissolved upon fixation returns to its affected cubes.
1759 B. Martin Nat. Hist. Eng. I. 85 A Fixation of cold phlegmatic Humours.
1805 R. Chenevix in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 95 104 The fixation of mercury by platina is by many regarded as visionary.
1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflammation 645 The stiffness of a frost-bitten part..may be owing..to the fixation by cold, of the oil contained in the cellular membrane.
1813 H. Davy Elements Agric. Chem. ii. 45 The fixation of oxygene by the combustible body in a solid form.
1872 D. Oliver Lessons Elem. Bot. (new ed.) i. ii. 18 This fixation of the carbon and liberation of the oxygen of carbonic acid has been termed vegetable respiration.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > properties of materials > temperature > coldness > quality of being incombustible > [noun]
fixation1626
incombustibleness1653
fixedness1665
fixity1666
incombustibilitya1691
fixidity1762
uninflammability1826
1626 F. Bacon Sylua Syluarum §328 Gold hath these Natures: Greatnesse of Weight; Closenesse of Parts; Fixation; [etc.].
a1691 R. Boyle Wks. (1772) IV. 307 Adding fixation to a body, that was before either volatile, or less fixed.
1721 W. Gibson Farriers Dispensatory ii. Introd. 74 Fixation..where the Surfaces of the Particles of Bodies are so small..that they cannot be raised by the Force of Fire.
ΚΠ
1669 W. Simpson Hydrologia Chymica 114 Mercurius Precipitatus Diaphoreticus, which is a fixation or Precipitate.
d. The process of fixing nitrogen or another substance as part of a biological or industrial process; see fix v. 4c. Cf. nitrogen fixation n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > chemistry > chemical reactions or processes > [noun] > chemical reactions or processes (named) > fixation > of nitrogen
fixation1850
nitrogen fixation1893
1850 Jrnl. Hort. Soc. 5 57 The suspicion that the water evaporated had a more definite quantitative relationship to the fixation of the non-nitrogenous than to that of the nitrogenous constituents of the plants.
1862 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 151 468 The question whether or not the assimilation of free Nitrogen by plants may account for all, or a part, of the otherwise unexplained fixation, is seen to be left in a dilemma almost inexplicable.
1888 Ann. Bot. 1 351 Experiments to determine the fixation of atmospheric nitrogen by vegetable substances.
1914 J. Knox Fixation Atmosph. Nitrogen ii. 73 A great advantage of the NH3 synthesis for the fixation of nitrogen is that the amount of energy required for the process is small.
1927 S. A. Waksman Princ. Soil Microbiol. xxii. 558 Fixation of nitrogen in the soil is carried on largely by bacteria.
1930 R. E. Buchanan & E. I. Fulmer Physiol. & Biochem. Bacteria III. xvii. 178 In aerobic nitrogen and oxygen fixation there is a competition between nitrogen and oxygen to act as hydrogen acceptors.
1941 Jrnl. Biol. Chem. 139 375 The fermentation of glucose by propionic acid bacteria was accompanied by fixation of C13O2 in the succinate.
1966 New Statesman 2 Dec. 824/3 A celebrated chemical process, on which all food supplies ultimately depend, is the ‘fixation’ of nitrogen from the air to fertilise the soil or the sea.
e. The process of fixing biological specimens (cf. fix v. 4d).
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > laboratory analysis > processes > [noun] > fixation
fixation1891
postosmication1933
prefixation1933
postfixation1963
1891 Jrnl. Royal Microsc. Soc. 287 Sublimate fixation produced excellent results.
1929 C. E. McClung Handbk. Microsc. Technique i. 8 Living protoplasm is a gelatinous or semi-fluid material, and after fixation it becomes a solid.
1969 W. V. Brown & E. M. Bertke Textbk. Cytol. iii. 15/2 The most important single step in the preparation of tissues is fixation.
f. Immunology. = complement-fixation n. at complement n. 5i.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > immunogenesis > [noun] > fixation
fixation1905
1905 Centralblatt f. Bakteriol. (Originale) XXXIX. 603 (heading) The fixation of alexines by specific serum precipitates.
1970 R. Passmore & J. S. Robson Compan. Med. Stud. II. xxii. 12 The activation or fixation of complement..depends upon changes in configuration of immuno~globulin molecules when they are brought into close apposition during reaction with antigen.
3.
a. The concentration of the gaze upon some object for a given time with the intention of holding the retinal image upon the area of direct vision. Cf. fixate v. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > a look or glance > [noun] > stare or gaze > fixedness of look
steadfastness1567
fixture1850
fixation1889
fixity1895
1889 H. Ellis tr. A. Moll Hypnotism (1890) i. 2 Indian yogis and fakirs..throw themselves into the hypnotic state by means of fixation of the gaze.
1896 G. F. Stout Analyt. Psychol. I. 214 For the most part, however, the fixation of images is not accompanied by overt movement or by any very appreciable muscular strain.
1924 R. M. Ogden tr. K. Koffka Growth of Mind iii. §5. 71 In fixation, the eye is turned until the fixated object falls upon the place of clearest vision.
1941 Nature 13 Sept. 321/1 Reading ordinary type an average adult reader traverses a line of print 3½ in. long in about six stages or fixations.
1951 G. Humphrey Thinking ix. 268 Instructions were: to fixate no special point, but if fixation is necessary to direct attention towards the middle of the dividing line, [etc.].
1971 Sci. Amer. June 35/1 During normal viewing of stationary objects the eyes alternate between fixations, when they are aimed at a fixed point in the visual field, and rapid movements.
b. Psychology. In Freudian theory: the arresting of the development of a libidinal component at a pregenital stage, so that psychosexual emotions are ‘fixed’ at that point. Also loosely, an obsession, an idée fixe. Cf. fixate v. 3b.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > theories of Freud > child's desire for parent > [noun] > arrested development
fixation1910
the mind > mental capacity > psychology > theory of psychoanalysis > libido > obsession > [noun] > obsessive idea
fixed idea1829
idée fixe1836
fixation1910
the mind > mental capacity > perception or cognition > faculty of ideation > idea, notion, or concept > [noun] > obsessive
fixed idea1829
idée fixe1836
complex1907
fixation1963
the mind > mental capacity > belief > belief, trust, confidence > act of convincing, conviction > [noun] > firm opinion, conviction > dominating
possession1728
cheval de bataille1818
fixed idea1829
idée fixe1836
King Charles's head1865
fixation1963
1910 A. A. Brill tr. S. Freud Three Contrib. to Sexual Theory i. 11 A phase of very intense but short-lived fixation on the woman (usually on the mother).
1910 A. A. Brill tr. S. Freud Three Contrib. to Sexual Theory i. 27 We find feelings of inversion in the unconscious psychic life, fixation of libido on persons of the same sex.
1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. 52 There may be what Freud calls a ‘sexual fixation’ at any critical point.
1919 M. K. Bradby Psycho-anal. 226 But emotionally he [sc. Nelson] was childish with a large trace of that infantile fixation to the mother described in an earlier chapter.
1925 A. Strachey & J. Strachey tr. S. Freud Coll. Papers III. iv. 447 In my Drei Abhandlungen zur Sexualtheorie I have expressed the opinion that each stage in the development of psycho~sexuality affords a possibility for the occurrence of a ‘fixation’ and thus for the laying down of a disposition to illness in later life.
1925 A. Strachey & J. Strachey tr. S. Freud Coll. Papers III. iv. 453 Fixation can be described in this way. One instinct or instinctual component fails to accompany the rest along the anticipated normal path of development.
1946 O. Fenichel Psychoanal. Theory of Neurosis i. v. 65 They represent, rather, pathological cases with special oral-sadistic fixations.
1947 A. Huxley Let. 9 Mar. (1969) 567 Marlow is one of those classical cases, so dear to psychoanalysts, with a fixation on his mother, about which he feels subconsciously guilty, so that he can't associate sex with respectability.
1957 F. G. A. Alexander Psychoanal. & Psychotherapy v. 103 According to this view there is a reciprocal relationship between fixation and regression.
1963 Daily Tel. 15 May 25/8 A young man with a fixation about boats.
1970 Daily Tel. 21 Feb. 8/3 Victorian taste had a fixation with the Gothic.
c. Medicine. The immobilization and holding in place of a limb or joint or the parts of a fractured bone; the holding in place of a displaced or floating organ by means of sutures.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > fixation and repair operations > [noun] > fixation
fixation1897
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > treatments uniting or replacing parts > [noun] > setting bones or dislocations
algebraa1400
reduction?a1425
bone-setting1587
reposition1588
coaptation1783
reposit1849
fixation1897
1897 W. J. Walsham Surg. (ed. 6) Index 829/1 Fixation of kidney.
1906 W. J. Walsham & W. G. Spencer Surg. (ed. 9) iii. 254 Fixation of a fracture by open operation.
1908 W. Rose & A. Carless Man. Surg. (ed. 7) xix. 476 The fixation of the fracture in a good position is provided for by the application of suitable splints.
1926 Jrnl. Bone & Joint Surg. 8 496 (caption) Vanadium (author's design) steel plate with transfixion of bone, giving maximum fixation and security.
1948 F. W. Holdsworth in Brit. Surg. Pract. IV. 192 Internal fixation is, therefore, advisable by plating the fracture of the radius with a 4-screwed vitallium plate.
1951 W. A. N. Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 22) 566 Internal fixation, the fastening together and fixation of the ends of a fractured bone by means of wires, plates, screws or nails applied directly to the fractured bone.
1957 R. Nissen in Mulholland Current Surg. Managem. 57 (title) Repair of esophageal hiatal hernia by fixation to the abdominal wall.
1966 J. S. Batchelor in R. Furlong Fractures & Dislocations 215 85 fractures treated by early fixation within six days of injury gave a non-union of 23 per cent.
1968 S. Taylor et al. Short Textbk. Surg. (ed. 2) xxv. 379 In the past, fixation of the kidney (nephropexy) was performed for such symptoms as aching in the loins.
1968 S. Taylor et al. Short Textbk. Surg. (ed. 2) xxx. 449 Pathological Fracture... Treatment includes immobilization by internal fixation of the fracture if that is feasible.
Compounds
fixation abscess n. (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1906 W. A. N. Dorland Med. Dict. (ed. 4) s.v. Abscess Fixation abscess, an abscess produced artificially (as by the injection of turpentine) for the purpose of attracting and fixing at the site of the abscess the bacteria of an acute infection.
1929 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 5 Jan. 31/1 A streptococcal septicemia, which..localized at the base of the right lung, first imperfectly and later as an empyema (‘fixation abscess’).
fixation-point n. the point at which an eye is directed, so that its image falls on the most sensitive part of the retina; also, the most sensitive part of the retina.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > thing seen > [noun] > horopter or fixation point
horopter1704
fixation-point1890
the world > life > the body > sense organ > sight organ > parts of sight organ > [noun] > retina > other parts of retina
macula1670
fundus1682
yellow spot1798
macula lutea1818
ora serrata1833
corresponding points1841
identical points1841
blind spot1864
fixation-point1890
cyanolabe1958
1890 J. S. Billings National Med. Dict. I Fixation-point.., the point of sight—i.e. the point of which the retinal image is on the centre of clearest vision; the crossing-point in outer space of the lines of regard.
1909 E. B. Titchener Text-bk. Psychol. i. 81 The object first becomes visible as a patch of black;..finally, as it approaches the fixation-point, it appears in its true colour.
1932 S. Duke-Elder Text-bk. Ophthalmol. I. xiii. 580 A position in which the eyes are both directed upon the same fixation point situated straight ahead and infinitely far away.
1950 Sci. News 15 24 Seven different fixation points were discovered, for the following spectral regions.
1971 Nature 11 June 395/1 The subject fixated a central point in the pre-exposure field and after a ‘ready’ signal the stimulus was presented briefly to the left or right of the fixation point.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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