rotary
Americanadjective
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turning or capable of turning around on an axis, as a wheel.
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taking place around an axis, as motion.
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having a part or parts that turn on an axis, as a machine.
noun
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a rotary device or machine.
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Chiefly Northeastern U.S. traffic circle.
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Also called rotary converter. Electricity. synchronous converter.
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(initial capital letter) Rotary Club.
adjective
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of, relating to, or operating by rotation
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turning or able to turn; revolving
noun
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a part of a machine that rotates about an axis
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a roundabout (for traffic)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of rotary
1725–35; < Medieval Latin rotārius (adj.), equivalent to Latin rot ( a ) wheel + -ārius -ary
Explanation
Anything rotary has a circular form, like an old-fashioned phone. A rotary is also a traffic circle. Just as the Earth rotates around the sun, rotary objects move in a circle or orbit. A rotary telephone has a circular dial that turns, and a rotary mower has a cutting blade that moves in a circular motion. A type of street where traffic flows in a circle — sometimes called a roundabout — can also be called a rotary. The word stems from the Latin word rotarius, "pertaining to wheels," from its root word rota, or "wheel."
Vocabulary lists containing rotary
"Modern Automotive Technology," Vocabulary from Section 1
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Becoming Muhammad Ali
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
A startup called LiquidPiston has spent more than a decade developing a new kind of rotary engine—including the X Mini shown here—that it says can be both more efficient and compact than traditional piston engines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
A startup called LiquidPiston has spent more than a decade developing a new kind of rotary engine—including the X Mini shown here—that it says can be both more efficient and compact than traditional piston engines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
A startup called LiquidPiston has spent more than a decade developing a new kind of rotary engine—including the X Mini shown here—that it says can be both more efficient and compact than traditional piston engines.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
During her life she secured more than 25 other permits, including for shoe-manufacturing equipment, improved window frames and sashes and a rotary engine.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
Even the simplest choice, like whether to have a Touch-Tone telephone or a rotary one, required enormous, painstaking deliberation.
From "The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother" by James McBride
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
