oscillation

[ os-uh-ley-shuhn ]
See synonyms for oscillation on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an act or instance of oscillating.

  2. a single swing or movement in one direction of an oscillating body.

  1. fluctuation between beliefs, opinions, conditions, etc.

  2. Physics.

    • an effect expressible as a quantity that repeatedly and regularly fluctuates above and below some mean value, as the pressure of a sound wave or the voltage of an alternating current.

    • a single fluctuation between maximum and minimum values in such an effect.

  3. Mathematics.

    • the difference between the least upper bound and the greatest lower bound of the functional values of a function in a given interval.

    • Also called saltus. the limit of the oscillation in an interval containing a given point, as the length of the interval approaches zero.

Origin of oscillation

1
1650–60; <Latin oscillātiōn- (stem of oscillātiō) a swinging, equivalent to oscillāt(us) (see oscillate) + -iōn--ion

Words Nearby oscillation

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How to use oscillation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for oscillation

oscillation

/ (ˌɒsɪˈleɪʃən) /


noun
  1. physics statistics

    • regular fluctuation in value, position, or state about a mean value, such as the variation in an alternating current or the regular swinging of a pendulum

    • a single cycle of such a fluctuation

  2. the act or process of oscillating

Derived forms of oscillation

  • oscillatory (ˈɒsɪlətərɪ, -trɪ), adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for oscillation

oscillation

[ ŏs′ə-lāshən ]


  1. A repeating fluctuation in a physical object or quantity. See also attractor harmonic motion.

  2. A single cycle of such fluctuation.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.