nutation
English edit
Etymology edit
1610s, from Latin nūtātiō (“nodding”), from nūtō (“I nod”). Compare mutation.
Pronunciation edit
- Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Noun edit
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 edit
Translations edit
physics term
head nodding
French edit
Pronunciation edit
Audio (file)
Noun edit
nutation f (plural nutations)
Further reading edit
- “nutation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.