rotate

English

Etymology

From Latin rotātus, perfect passive participle of rotō (“revolve”), from rota (“wheel”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) enPR: rōtāt', IPA: /ɹəʊˈteɪt/, SAMPA: /r\@U"teIt/
• (US) enPR: rō'tāt, IPA: /ˈɹɔʊteɪt/, SAMPA: /"r\OUteIt/

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Verb

rotate (third-person singular simple present rotates, present participle rotating, simple past and past participle rotated)

1. (intransitive) to spin, turn, or revolve.

   He rotated in his chair to face me.

2. (intransitive) to advance through a sequence; to take turns.

   The nurses' shifts rotate each week.

3. (intransitive, of aircraft) to lift the nose, just prior to takeoff.

   The aircraft rotates at sixty knots.

4. (transitive) to spin, turn, or revolve something.

   Rotate the dial to the left.

5. (transitive) to advance something through a sequence.
6. (transitive) to replace older materials or to place older materials in front of newer ones so that older ones get used first.

   The supermarket rotates the stock daily so that old foods don't sit around.

7. (transitive, of crops) to grow or plant in a certain order.

Synonyms

• (to turn) revolve
• (to make turn) circumvolve

Translations

to spin, turn, or revolve

Czech: otočit (cs) Dutch: roteren (nl) Finnish: pyöriä (fi), pyörittää (fi), kääntyä (fi) French: tourner (fr) Galician: xirar (gl) German: sich drehen, rotieren Greek: περιστρέφομαι (el) (peristréfomai)

Kurdish: چه‌رخاندن, سوراندن Pashto: تاوول (ps) (tāwawəl), څرخول (ps) (carkhawəl) Romanian: roti (ro) Spanish: girar (es) Telugu: భ్రమించు (bhraminchu), పరిభ్రమించు (paribhraminchu)

to advance through a sequence; to take turns

Finnish: vuorotella (fi)

Greek: εναλλάσσομαι (el) (enallássomai)

to spin, turn, or revolve something

Finnish: kääntää (fi) Greek: περιστρέφω (el) (peristréfo)

Spanish: hacer rodar, girar Telugu: తిప్పు (tippu)

to advance something through a sequence

to replace older materials or to place older materials in front of newer ones

to change which tire is on each corner of the car, so that they wear evenly

Derived terms

• rotation
• rotatable

Related terms

• rota

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Italian

Verb

rotate

1. second-person plural present indicative of rotare
2. second-person plural imperative of rotare
3. Feminine plural of rotato

Anagrams

• attero, attore, ettaro, oretta, teatro

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Latin

Verb

rotāte

1. first-person plural present active imperative of rotō