undulate

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English

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Late Latin undulātus (undulated), from an unattested *undula (small wave), diminutive of Latin unda (wave).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʌndjəleɪt/, /ˈʌndjʊleɪt/, /ˈʌnd͡ʒəleɪt/, /ˈʌnd͡ʒʊleɪt/, /ˈʌndəleɪt/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)
  • (adjective, non-merged vowel) IPA(key): /ˈʌndjəlɪt/, /ˈʌndjʊlɪt/, /ˈʌnd͡ʒəlɪt/, /ˈʌnd͡ʒʊlɪt/, /ˈʌndəlɪt/
  • (adjective, merged vowel) IPA(key): /ˈʌndjələt/, /ˈʌnd͡ʒələt/, /ˈʌndələt/
  • Audio (Southern England):(file)

Verb

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undulate (third-person singular simple present undulates, present participle undulating, simple past and past participle undulated)

  1. (transitive) To cause to move in a wavelike motion.
    • 1669, William Holder, Elements of Speech: An Essay of Inquiry into the Natural Production of Letters: [], London: [] T. N[ewcomb] for J[ohn] Martyn printer to the R[oyal] Society, [], →OCLC:
      Breath vocalized, i.e., vibrated and undulated.
  2. (transitive) To cause to resemble a wave.
  3. (intransitive) To move in wavelike motions.
    • 1865, Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”, in Sequel to Drum-Taps: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d and other poems:
      Come lovely and soothing death, / Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving, / In the day, in the night, to all, to each, / Sooner or later delicate death.
  4. (intransitive) To appear wavelike.

Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

See also

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Adjective

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Flowers with undulate petal margins

undulate (comparative more undulate, superlative most undulate)

  1. Wavy in appearance or form.
  2. Changing the pitch and volume of one's voice.
  3. (botany, of a margin) sinuous, winding up and down.

Translations

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Latin

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Adjective

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undulāte

  1. vocative masculine singular of undulātus