nutation

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: nu=ta=tion

CIDE DICTIONARY

nutation, n. [L. nutatio a nodding, fr. nutare to nod: cf. F. nutation.].

•  The act of nodding.  [1913 Webster]

  "So from the midmost the nutation spreads,
  Round and more round, o'er all the sea of heads."  [1913 Webster]
•  A very small libratory motion of the earth's axis, by which its inclination to the plane of the ecliptic is constantly varying by a small amount.  [1913 Webster]
•  The motion of a flower in following the apparent movement of the sun, from the east in the morning to the west in the evening.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

nutation, n.
1 the act or an instance of nodding.
2 Astron. a periodic oscillation of the earth's poles.
3 oscillation of a spinning top.
4 the spiral movement of a plant organ during growth.

Etymology

L nutatio (as NUTANT)

ROGET THESAURUS

nutation

Oscillation

N oscillation, vibration, libration, motion of a pendulum, nutation, undulation, pulsation, pulse, alternation, coming and going, ebb and flow, flux and reflux, ups and down, fluctuation, vacillation, wave, vibratiuncle, swing, beat, shake, wag, seesaw, dance, lurch, dodge, logan, loggan, rocking-stone, vibroscope, oscillating, oscillatory, undulatory, pulsatory, libratory, rectilinear, vibratory, vibratile, pendulous, to and fro, up and down, backwards and forwards, hither and yon, seesaw, zigzag, wibble-wabble, in and out, from side to side, like buckets in a well.