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Fixation

1. (Science: orthopaedics) The act or operation of holding, suturing or fastening in a fixed position. The condition of being held in a fixed position.

2. (Science: psychiatry) a term with two related but distinct meanings: 1. Arrest of development at a particular stage, which like regression (return to an earlier stage), if temporary is a normal reaction to setbacks and difficulties but if protracted or frequent is a cause of developmental failures and emotional problems.

3. (Science: psychology) a close and suffocating attachment to another person, especially a childhood figure, such as one's mother or father. Both meanings are derived from psychoanalytic theory and refer to fixation of libidinal energy either in a specific erogenous zone, hence fixation at the oral, anal or phallic stage or in a specific object, hence mother or father fixation.

4. (Science: technique) The use of a fixative to preserve histological or cytological specimens.

5. (Science: chemistry) The process whereby a substance is removed from the gaseous or solution phase and localised, as in carbon dioxide fixation or nitrogen fixation.

6. (Science: ophthalmology) The direction of the gaze so that the visual image of the object falls on the fovea centralis.

7. (Science: chemistry) in film processing, the chemical removal of all undeveloped salts of the film emulsion, leaving only the developed silver to form a permanent image.

8. (Science: zoology) a general term for determination of type, whether by designation, or indication.

Origin: L. Fixatio