oscillation

[os-uh-ley-shuh n] /ˌɒs əˈleɪ ʃən/
noun
1.
an act or instance of oscillating.
2.
a single swing or movement in one direction of an oscillating body.
3.
fluctuation between beliefs, opinions, conditions, etc.
4.
Physics.
  1. an effect expressible as a quantity that repeatedly and regularly fluctuates above and below some mean value, as the pressure of a sound wave or the voltage of an alternating current.
  2. a single fluctuation between maximum and minimum values in such an effect.
5.
Mathematics.
  1. the difference between the least upper bound and the greatest lower bound of the functional values of a function in a given interval.
  2. Also called saltus. the limit of the oscillation in an interval containing a given point, as the length of the interval approaches zero.
Origin
1650-60; < Latin oscillātiōn- (stem of oscillātiō) a swinging, equivalent to oscillāt(us) (see oscillate) + -iōn- -ion
Examples from the web for oscillation
  • These include not only fireflies but a number of other organisms and body cells that have a preferred rate of natural oscillation.
  • If no spot-changing oscillation were happening it should have seen only one or two.
  • He observed a small clockwise motion of the pendulum's apparent plane of oscillation.
  • The maser oscillation persists as long as the hydrogen is fed into the system.
  • But at day's end, cells in the thalamus naturally enter a low-frequency oscillation.
  • One oscillation defines one primary interval of time, so that atoms are particles and waves at the same time.
  • Furthermore, it is prone to a subtly disturbing oscillation known to audio engineers as wow.
  • Moreover, that oscillation varies when neutrinos are propagated through matter.
  • oscillation, even during an election campaign, is a worrying sign.
  • The oscillation's direction is known as polarization.
British Dictionary definitions for oscillation

oscillation

/ˌɒsɪˈleɪʃən/
noun
1.
(physics, statistics)
  1. regular fluctuation in value, position, or state about a mean value, such as the variation in an alternating current or the regular swinging of a pendulum
  2. a single cycle of such a fluctuation
2.
the act or process of oscillating
Derived Forms
oscillatory (ˈɒsɪlətərɪ; -trɪ) adjective
Word Origin and History for oscillation
n.

1650s, from French oscillation, from Latin oscillationem (nominative oscillatio), noun of action from past participle stem of oscillare "to swing," supposed to be from oscillum "little face," literally "little mouth," a mask of open-mouthed Bacchus hung up in vineyards as a charm (the sense evolution would be via the notion of "swing in the breeze"); from PIE *os- "mouth" (see oral).

oscillation in Medicine

oscillation os·cil·la·tion (ŏs'ə-lā'shən)
n.

  1. The act of oscillating.

  2. The state of being oscillated.

  3. A single oscillatory cycle.

  4. A stage in inflammation in which the accumulation of white blood cells in the small vessels arrests the passage of blood, thus causing a to-and-fro movement of the blood at each cardiac contraction.

os'cil·la'tion·al adj.
oscillation in Science
oscillation
(ŏs'ə-lā'shən)

  1. A repeating fluctuation in a physical object or quantity. See also attractor, harmonic motion.

  2. A single cycle of such fluctuation.