English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin allisiō, from allīdō (to strike or dash against). cf. collision.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

allision (plural allisions)

  1. (nautical) The striking of a vessel against a fixed object; the act of alliding or an instance thereof.
    • 1984 "United States. National Transportation Safety Board Decisions Volume IV: Enforcement Decisions in Aviation and Marine Cases. January 1, 1982 — December 31, 1984 p 2020
      Implicit in the presumption operable here is the standard to which the operator is held: prudently navigated vessels do not allide with wharfs or moored vessels or aids to navigation. Evidence of compliance with the required standard of care might take the form of evidence of inevitable accident, evidence of superior force, or even evidence negating the happening of the allision. In short, evidence that the operator was free of negligence or that the allision could reasonably have occurred because of factors other than the operator's negligent conduct is necessary. Based upon the evidence in the instant case, the argument that unforeseeable circumstances caused the allision misses the mark.
    • 2004 Bryan A. Garner ed. Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed.)
      ...contact of a vessel with a stationary object such as an anchored vessel or a pier. In modem practice, “collision” is often used where “allision” was once the preferred term
  2. (rare) The act of dashing against or striking upon.
    • 1695 John Woodward: An essay toward a natural history of the earth (Also quoted in Samuel Johnson's dictionary)
      There have not been any islands of note, or considerable extent, torn and cast off from the continent by earthquakes, or severed from it by the boisterous allision of the sea.
    • 1822 Walter Whiter: Etymologicon universale
      ...Ainsworth observes on the letter R, that its sound is formed in the upper part of the throat, but so vibrated by a quaver of the tongue, and allision on the teeth, that it makes a sound like the grinning of a dog, whence it is called the canine Letter; but the Romans, on the contrary, give it so soft and lisping a souhd, that in writing they sometimes omitted it...

Coordinate terms edit

Related terms edit

Translations edit

See also edit