fluctuation
[fluhk-choo-ey-shuh n]
- continual change from one point or condition to another.
- wavelike motion; undulation.
- Genetics. a body variation due to environmental factors and not inherited.
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Origin of fluctuation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for fluctuation
Contemporary Examples
Side effects may include recession, job contraction, 401(k) bruising, recurrent Dow fluctuation, and IRA bleeding.
Historical Examples
Two countries, at least, are concerned in the fluctuation of every rate.
Elements of Foreign ExchangeFranklin Escher
These are the main influences bearing on the fluctuation of exchange.
Elements of Foreign ExchangeFranklin Escher
The solidity was all in the superstructure; the fluctuation had been all in the foundations.
A Short History of EnglandG. K. Chesterton
The price of cauliflowers is less subject to fluctuation than that of most other vegetables.
The CauliflowerA. A. Crozier
Prices fluctuate, and their fluctuation is apt to be deceptive.
The Book-CollectorWilliam Carew Hazlitt
fluctuation
- constant change; vacillation; instability
- undulation
- a variation in an animal or plant that is determined by environment rather than heredity
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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).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper