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Webster 1913 Edition

Nutation

Nu-ta′tion

,
Noun.
[L.
nutatio
a nodding, fr.
nutare
to nod: cf. F.
nutation
.]
1.
The act of nodding.
So from the midmost the
nutation
spreads,
Round and more round, o’er all the sea of heads.
Pope.
2.
(Astron.)
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.
3.
(Bot.)
(a)
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.
(b)
Circumnutation.

Webster 1828 Edition

Nutation

NUTA'TION

,
Noun.
[L., a nodding, to nod.] In astronomy, a kind of tremulous motion of the axis of the earth, by which in its annual revolution it is twice inclined to the ecliptic, and as often returns to its former position.

Definition 2024

nutation

nutation

English

Noun

nutation ‎(plural nutations)

  1. (physics) a bobbing motion that accompanies the precession of a spinning rigid body
  2. a nodding motion (of the head etc.)
  3. (astronomy) any of several irregularities in the precession of the equinoxes caused by varying torque applied to the Earth by the Sun and the Moon
  4. (botany) the circular motion of the tip of a growing shoot

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ “nutation” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Etymology

1610s, from Latin nūtātiō ‎(“nodding”), from nūtō ‎(“I nod”), from Proto-Indo-European *neu-.[1] Compare mutation.

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -eɪʃən

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