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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

nu·ta·tion

Audio Help [noo-tey-shuh

n, nyoo-] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	an act or instance of nodding one's head, esp. involuntarily or spasmodically.

2.	Botany. spontaneous movements of plant parts during growth.

3.	Astronomy. the periodic oscillation observed in the precession of the earth's axis and the precession of the equinoxes.

4.	Mechanics. the variation of the inclination of the axis of a gyroscope to the vertical.

[Origin: 1605–15; < L nūtātiōn- (s. of nūtātiō), equiv. to nūtāt(us) (ptp. of nūtāre to nod repeatedly; nū- nod + -tā- freq. suffix + -tus ptp. ending) + -iōn- -ion; cf. numen

]

—Related forms

nu·ta·tion·al, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
nutation

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

nu·ta·tion Audio Help (nōō-tā'shən, nyōō-) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act or an instance of nodding the head.
A wobble in a spinning gyroscope or other rotating body.
Astronomy A small periodic motion of the celestial pole of the earth with respect to the pole of the ecliptic.
Botany A slight curving or circular movement in a stem, as of a twining plant, caused by irregular growth rates of different parts.

[Latin nūtātiō, nūtātiōn-, from nūtātus, past participle of nūtāre, frequentative of -nuere, to nod.]

nu·ta'tion·al adj.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

nutation
noun
uncontrolled nodding

The American Heritage Science Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

nutation Audio Help (n

-tā'shən) Pronunciation Key

A small, cyclic variation of the Earth's axis of rotation with a period of 18.6 years, caused by tidal forces (mostly due to the gravity of the Moon). Nutation is a small and relatively rapid oscillation of the axis superimposed on the larger and much slower oscillation known as precession. Although discovered in 1728 by the British astronomer James Bradley (1693-1762), nutation was not explained until two decades later.
A slight curving or circular movement in a stem, as of a twining plant, caused by irregular growth rates of different parts.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Nutation

In`nu*en"do\, n.; pl. Innuedoes(?). [L., by intimation, by hinting, gerund of innuere, innutum, to give a nod, to intimate; pref. in- in, to + -nuere (in comp.) to nod. See Nutation.]

1. An oblique hint; a remote allusion or reference, usually derogatory to a person or thing not named; an insinuation.

Mercury . . . owns it a marriage by an innuendo. --Dryden.

Pursue your trade of scandal picking; Your innuendoes, when you tell us, That Stella loves to talk with fellows. --Swift.

2. (Law) An averment employed in pleading, to point the application of matter otherwise unintelligible; an interpretative parenthesis thrown into quoted matter to explain an obscure word or words; -- as, the plaintiff avers that the defendant said that he (innuendo the plaintiff) was a thief. --Wharton.

Note: The term is so applied from having been the introductory word of this averment or parenthetic explanation when pleadings were in Latin. The word "meaning" is used as its equivalent in modern forms.

Syn: Insinuation; suggestion; hint; intimation; reference; allusion; implication; representation; -- Innuendo, Insinuation.

Usage: An innuendo is an equivocal allusion so framed as to point distinctly at something which is injurious to the character or reputation of the person referred to. An insinuation turns on no such double use of language, but consists in artfully winding into the mind imputations of an injurious nature without making any direct charge.

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