oscillate
pronunciation
How to pronounce oscillate in British English:
UK [ˈɒsɪleɪt]
How to pronounce oscillate in American English:
US [ˈɑsɪleɪt]
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- Verb:
- be undecided about something; waver between conflicting positions or courses of action
- move or swing from side to side regularly
Word Origin
- oscillate
- oscillate: [18] Latin ōs originally meant ‘mouth’ (it was the source of English oral), but it was also used for ‘face’. Its diminutive form ōscillum ‘little face’ was applied to a mask depicting the god Bacchus that was hung up as a charm in vineyards, to be swung to and fro by the breeze. In due course its meaning broadened out to ‘swing’ generally, and a verb ōscillāre ‘swing’ was derived from it – whence English oscillate.=> oral
- oscillate (v.)
- 1726, back-formation from oscillation, or else from Latin oscillatus, past participle of oscillare (see oscillation). From 1917 in electronics. Related: Oscillated; oscillating.
Example
- 1. A given neutrino can , however , oscillate between these flavours .
- 2. It showed that waves at different heights oscillate at different frequencies due to gravitational time stretching .
- 3. The changing magnetic field would force the electrons to oscillate , too , but would not allow them to radiate heat .
- 4. The graphic below shows how a few different colors of light oscillate over time .
- 5. This means that we have now observed that neutrinos can oscillate in every way possible .