fluctuation

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fluctuatiōnem, accusative singular of fluctuatiō, from fluctuō, from fluctus. Morphologically fluctuate +‎ -ion.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

fluctuation (countable and uncountable, plural fluctuations)

1. A motion like that of waves; a moving in this and that direction; an irregular rising and falling.

   the fluctuations of the sea

   • 1959 November, “Notes and News: St. Pancras-Bedford Diesel Trains”, in Railway Magazine, page 801:

     The rolling stock has been specially designed to meet the needs of the fluctuation of traffic in peak and off-peak periods.

   • 2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL, number 996, page 30:

     The scientific instruments of the day recorded rapid fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field, as powerful electrical currents flowed through the upper atmosphere.

2. A wavering; unsteadiness.

   fluctuations of opinion

   fluctuations of prices

3. In medicine, a wave-like motion or undulation of a fluid in a natural or abnormal cavity (e.g. pus in an abscess), which is felt during palpation or percussion.

Derived terms

• cofluctuation
• fluctuational
• fluctuation theorem
• microfluctuation
• quantum fluctuation
• refluctuation

Related terms

• fluctuate

Translations

wavelike motion

• Arabic: تَأْرْجُح m (taʔrjuḥ), تَقَلُّب m (taqallub)
• Catalan: fluctuació f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 波動 / 波动 (zh) (bōdòng)

• Esperanto: fluktuado
• Finnish: heilahtelu (fi), huojunta (fi)
• French: fluctuation (fr) f
• German: Schwankung (de) f
• Hungarian: hullámzás (hu)
• Japanese: 波動 (ja) (はどう, hadō)
• Polish: wahanie (pl) n, falowanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: flutuação (pt) f, ondulação (pt) f
• Russian: колеба́ние (ru) n (kolebánije)
• Spanish: fluctuación f
• Ukrainian: колива́ння n (kolyvánnja), флукту́ація f (fluktúacija)

wavering; unsteadiness

• Arabic: تَذَبذُب m, تَقَلُّب (taqallub)
• Bulgarian: колебание (bg) n (kolebanie), флуктуация (bg) f (fluktuacija)
• Catalan: fluctuació f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 變動 / 变动 (zh) (biàndòng)

• Czech: fluktuace (cs)
• Danish: fluktuation
• Dutch: schommeling (nl) f
• Esperanto: fluktuado
• Finnish: heilahtelu (fi), huojunta (fi), vaihtelu (fi)
• French: fluctuation (fr) f
• German: Schwankung (de) f, Fluktuation (de) f
• Hungarian: ingadozás (hu), fluktuáció (hu), fluktuálás (hu), hullámzás (hu)
• Irish: luaineacht f
• Japanese: 増減 (ja) (ぞうげん, zōgen), 変動 (ja) (へんどう, hendō), ばらつき (baratsuki)
• Polish: fluktuacja (pl) f, wahanie (pl) n
• Portuguese: flutuação (pt) f
• Russian: колеба́ние (ru) n (kolebánije), неусто́йчивость (ru) f (neustójčivostʹ)
• Spanish: fluctuación f
• Turkish: dalgalanma (tr)
• Ukrainian: колива́ння n (kolyvánnja), флукту́ація f (fluktúacija)

French

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin flūctuātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flyk.tɥa.sjɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Noun

fluctuation f (plural fluctuations)

1. fluctuation

Related terms

• fluctuer

Descendants

• → Dutch: fluctuatie
  • → Indonesian: fluktuasi

Further reading

• “fluctuation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012