nutation
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English
Etymology
1610s, from Latin nūtātiō (“nodding”), from nūtō (“I nod”). Compare mutation.
Pronunciation
- Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Noun
nutation (countable and uncountable, plural nutations)
- (physics) A bobbing motion that accompanies the precession of a spinning rigid body.
- A nodding motion (of the head etc.).
- (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.
- (botany) The circular motion of the tip of a growing shoot.
Derived terms
Translations
physics term
head nodding
astronomical term
French
Pronunciation
Audio: (file)
Noun
nutation f (plural nutations)
Further reading
- “nutation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.