fluxion

American  

[fluhk-shuhn] / ˈflʌk ʃən /

noun

1. an act of flowing; a flow or flux.

2. Mathematics. the derivative relative to the time.

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fluxion British  

/ ˈflʌkʃən /

noun

1. obsolete maths the rate of change of a function, especially the instantaneous velocity of a moving body; derivative

2. a less common word for flux flux

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Other Word Forms

• fluxional
  adjective
• fluxionally
  adverb
• fluxionary
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of fluxion

1535–45; < Middle French < Late Latin fluxiōn- (stem of fluxiō ) a flowing. See flux, -ion

Example Sentences

With fluxion abroad and fitful anxiety at home, millions of citizens sleep more easily at night because they believe their Prime Minister is in control.

From Time Magazine Archive

It would be of particular interest to determine whether the torment of this tissue in any way interfered with the augmentation of bilious fluxion.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson

Newton disliked infinitesimals, the little os in his fluxion equations that sometimes acted like zeros and sometimes like nonzero numbers.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

As a result, the English stuck to Newton’s fluxion notation rather than adopting Leibniz’s superior differential notation—cutting off their noses to spite their faces.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

"The other is a peasant from the environs, who has a handkerchief over his face as if he enjoyed a fluxion."

From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851 by Various