nutation

Meaning

1. (countable, uncountable) A bobbing motion that accompanies the precession of a spinning rigid body.
2. (countable, uncountable) A nodding motion (of the head etc.).
3. (countable, uncountable) 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. (countable, uncountable) The circular motion of the tip of a growing shoot.

Synonyms

chemotropism

geotropism

hydrotropism

nodding

phototropism

thigmotropism

nastic movement

tropisms

Translations

nutation

Nutation

nutazione

nutación

κλόνηση

nutação

üğrüm

Tropismus

νεύση

Geotropismus

nutació

géotropisme

phototropisme

nastische Bewegung

Etymology

1610s, from Latin nūtātiō (“nodding”), from nūtō (“I nod”). Compare mutation.