pendular

American  

[pen-juh-ler, pen-duh-] / ˈpɛn dʒə lər, ˈpɛn də- /

adjective

1. of or relating to a pendulum.

2. of or resembling the motion of a pendulum.

   a pendular vibration.

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Etymology

Origin of pendular

First recorded in 1875–80; pendul(um) + -ar ¹

Explanation

Something that's pendular swings back and forth as it's dangled from above. A hypnotist in an old movie will inevitably mesmerize his patient by holding a pendular pocket watch and saying, "You're getting very sleepy." Pendular things resemble a pendulum, a word from the Latin pendere, "to hang." The classic example is a clock counting the seconds with pendular movements, like a black cat clock with moving eyeballs and a pendular tail that swings back and forth from a fixed point. You can also use this word figuratively for things that move through regular cycles: "Elections tend to be pendular, so the President's party will probably lose in the midterms."

Example Sentences

The two dancers, accompanied by metronomic clicks and clangs, oscillated like parts of a machine built to do a pendular, hip-wagging dance like the floss.

From New York Times • Jan. 16, 2022

He’ll be handing over this luxury commemorative gift, boasting elegant stitching, gold pendular cords and a generous quantity of velvety yet durable tassel, to his opposite number Fabian Lustenberger.

From The Guardian • Dec. 8, 2021

The arc of every private moral sphere is in constant pendular motion.

From Washington Post • Aug. 18, 2021

In the end, the game didn’t sell quite as well as its predecessor, but its pendular web-swinging and complex trick system set a new standard for what licensed video games were understood to be.

From The Verge • Aug. 31, 2018

It must have an ideal material point, an ideal rigid thread, an ideal point of suspension; and then the pendular movement is translated by a formula.

From More Hunting Wasps by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander