apposes

Apposes is the third-person singular present tense of the verb appose, meaning to place side by side or to juxtapose. The verb can describe the act of placing items in close proximity for purposes such as comparison, identification, or emphasis. Related verb forms include apposed (past tense) and apposing (present participle).

In grammar, apposition refers to a relationship in which a noun phrase is placed next to another noun to identify or rename it. The term appositive describes the modifying phrase or noun phrase, and the overall relation is called apposition. The preferred plural for the grammatical relation is appositions; some discussions also encounter appositions as a plural usage. The verb form appose and its inflected forms (including apposes, apposing, and apposed) describe actions related to creating or describing apposition.

Etymology traces appose to Latin roots related to appositus, from the verb apponere or a similar formation meaning to place near. It entered English through Old French influence and developed to mean both the literal placement beside something and, in linguistic contexts, the placement of a designation next to a referent.

Usage notes

- Appose is used for general placement side by side, not necessarily inside the same clause. For example, editors may appose a caption to an image or two related items to highlight a contrast.

- In linguistic contexts, apposition is a formal term; the appositive phrase is typically set off by commas in English, as in “Paris, the capital of France, is a major city.”

See also: appositive, apposition, juxtaposition.