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fluctuation

[fluhk-choo-ey-shuh n]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR fluctuation ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

continual change from one point or condition to another.

wavelike motion; undulation.

Genetics. a body variation due to environmental factors and not inherited.

Origin of fluctuation

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin fluctuātiōn- (stem of fluctuātiō) a fluctuation, wavering. See fluctuate, -ion

Related formsnon·fluc·tu·a·tion, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fluctuation

variation, change, inconstancy

Examples from the Web for fluctuation

Contemporary Examples of fluctuation

Side effects may include recession, job contraction, 401(k) bruising, recurrent Dow fluctuation, and IRA bleeding.
Up to a Point: PJ O’Rourke on Sochi and Senate Slackers
P. J. O’Rourke
February 7, 2014

Historical Examples of fluctuation

Two countries, at least, are concerned in the fluctuation of every rate.
Elements of Foreign Exchange
Franklin Escher
These are the main influences bearing on the fluctuation of exchange.
Elements of Foreign Exchange
Franklin Escher
The solidity was all in the superstructure; the fluctuation had been all in the foundations.
A Short History of England
G. K. Chesterton
The price of cauliflowers is less subject to fluctuation than that of most other vegetables.
The Cauliflower
A. A. Crozier
Prices fluctuate, and their fluctuation is apt to be deceptive.
The Book-Collector
William Carew Hazlitt

British Dictionary definitions for fluctuation

fluctuation

noun

constant change; vacillation; instability

undulation

a variation in an animal or plant that is determined by environment rather than heredity

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

Word Origin and History for fluctuation

n.

mid-15c., from Middle French fluctuation (12c.) or directly from Latin fluctuationem (nominative fluctuatio) "a wavering, vacillation," noun of action from past participle stem of fluctuare "to undulate, to move in waves," from fluctus "wave, billow, surge," from past participle of fluere "to flow" (see fluent).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper