adhesion

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: ad=he=sion

CIDE DICTIONARY

adhesion, n. [L. adhaesio, fr. adhaerere: cf. F. adhésion.].

•  The action of sticking; the state of being attached; intimate union; as, the adhesion of glue, or of parts united by growth, cement, or the like.  [1913 Webster]
•  Adherence; steady or firm attachment; fidelity; as, adhesion to error, to a policy.  [1913 Webster]

  "His adhesion to the Tories was bounded by his approbation of their foreign policy."  [1913 Webster]
•  Agreement to adhere; concurrence; assent.  [1913 Webster]

  "To that treaty Spain and England gave in their adhesion."  [1913 Webster]
•  The molecular attraction exerted between bodies in contact. See Cohesion.  [1913 Webster]
•  Union of surface, normally separate, by the formation of new tissue resulting from an inflammatory process.  [1913 Webster]
•  The union of parts which are separate in other plants, or in younger states of the same plant.  [1913 Webster]

Syn. -- Adherence; union. See Adherence.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

adhesion, n.
1 the act or process of adhering.
2 the capacity of a substance to stick fast.
3 Med. an unnatural union of surfaces due to inflammation.
4 the maintenance of contact between the wheels of a vehicle and the road.
5 the giving of support or allegiance.

Usage

More common in physical senses (e.g. the glue has good adhesion), with adherence used in abstract senses (e.g. adherence to principles).

Etymology

F adh{eacute}sion or L adhaesio (as ADHERE)

ROGET THESAURUS

adhesion

Coherence

N coherence, adherence, adhesion, adhesiveness, concretion accretion, conglutination, agglutination, agglomeration, aggregation, consolidation, set, cementation, sticking, soldering, connection, dependence, tenacity, toughness, stickiness, inseparability, inseparableness, bur, remora, conglomerate, concrete, cohesive, adhesive, adhering, cohering, tenacious, tough, sticky, united, unseparated, unsessile, inseparable, inextricable, infrangible, compact.

Observance

N observance, performance, compliance, acquiescence, concurrence, obedience, fulfillment, satisfaction, discharge, acquittance, acquittal, adhesion, acknowledgment, fidelity, exact, observance, observant, faithful, true, loyal, honorable, true as the dial to the sun, true as the needle to the pole, punctual, punctilious, literal, as good as one's word, faithfully, ignoscito saepe alteri nunquam tibi, tempori parendum, to God, thy country, and thy friend be true.

Contiguity

N contiguity, contact, proximity, apposition, abuttal, juxtaposition, abutment, osculation, meeting, appulse, rencontre, rencounter, syzygy, coincidence, coexistence, adhesion, touching, (touch), borderland, frontier, tangent, abutter, contiguous, touching, in contact, conterminous, end to end, osculatory, pertingent, tangential, hand to hand, close to, with no interval.