Definify.com

Webster 1913 Edition

(ŏs′sĭl-lāt)

Verb.

[

imp. & p. p.

Oscillated

(ŏs′sĭl-lāˊtĕd)

;

p. pr. & vb. n.

Oscillating

(ŏs′sĭl-lāˊtĭng)

[L.

oscillare

to swing, fr.

oscillum

a swing, a little mask or puppet made to be hung from trees and swing in the wind, prob. orig., a little mouth, a dim. from

mouth. See

, and cf.

To move backward and forward; to vibrate like a pendulum; to swing; to sway.

To vary or fluctuate between fixed limits; to act or move in a fickle or fluctuating manner; to change repeatedly, back and forth.

The amount of superior families

oscillates

rather than changes, that is, it fluctuates within fixed limits.

De Quincey.

Verb.

[L. oscillo, from ant. cillo, Gr. to move.]

To swing; to move backward and forward; to vibrate.