oscillate

English

Etymology

From Latin ōscillātus, perfect passive participle of Latin ōscillō (“swing”), from ōscillum (“a swing”), usually identified with ōscillum (“a little face or mask hung on a tree that sways with the wind”), diminutive of ōs (“mouth, face”). Doublet of osculate.

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑsɪleɪt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Verb

oscillate (third-person singular simple present oscillates, present participle oscillating, simple past and past participle oscillated)

1. (intransitive) To swing back and forth, especially if with a regular rhythm.

   A pendulum oscillates slower as it gets longer.

2. (intransitive) To vacillate between conflicting opinions, etc.

   The mood for change oscillated from day to day.

3. (intransitive) To vary above and below a mean value.

Synonyms

• vacillate

Derived terms

• oscillator

Related terms

• oscillation

Translations

to swing back and forth, especially if with a regular rhythm

• Bulgarian: вибрирам (bg) (vibriram), осцилирам (bg) (osciliram)
• Catalan: oscil·lar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 振盪／振荡 (zh) (zhèndàng)

• Czech: kmitat, oscilovat
• Estonian: võnkliikuma
• Finnish: värähdellä (fi), heilua (fi), oskilloida (fi)
• French: osciller (fr)
• Galician: oscilar (gl)
• German: schwingen (de), pendeln (de), oszilieren, vibrieren (de), zittern (de), changieren (de)
• Greek: ταλαντεύομαι (el) (talantévomai), διακυμαίνομαι (el) (diakymaínomai), αιωρούμαι (el) (aioroúmai)
• Hebrew: תָּנַד m (tanad), תָּנְדָה f (tanda), הִתְנוֹדֵד (he) m (hitnoded), הִתְנוֹדְדָה (he) f (hitnodeda)
• Hungarian: please add this translation if you can
• Irish: ascalaigh
• Italian: oscillare (it)
• Japanese: 振動する (ja) (しんどうする, shindō-suru)
• Maori: kōpiupiu
• Polish: oscylować impf
• Portuguese: oscilar (pt)
• Romanian: oscila (ro)
• Russian: колеба́ться (ru) impf (kolebátʹsja), кача́ться (ru) impf (kačátʹsja), осцилли́ровать (ru) impf (oscillírovatʹ)
• Spanish: oscilar (es)
• Swedish: pendla (sv)
• Ukrainian: осцилювати (oscyljuvaty), колива́тися (kolyvátysja)
• Welsh: osgiliadu

See also

• undulate

Further reading

• “oscillate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “oscillate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “oscillate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Tesla coil, lactisole, localites, teocallis

Italian

Etymology 1

Verb

oscillate

1. inflection of oscillare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Etymology 2

Participle

oscillate f pl

1. feminine plural of oscillato

Anagrams

• alcoliste, costellai, escatolli, scolliate, sollecita, solletica