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fluctuate

verb

No English definition recorded for this entry.

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Wiktionary

Pronunciation: /ˈflʌkt͡ʃu.eɪt/ / /ˈflʌkʃu.eɪt/ / /ˈflʌktju.eɪt/

adj

Etymology: First attested in the 1630'; borrowed from Latin flūctuātus, perfect passive participle of flūctuō (“(of the sea) to surge, swell; (of man) to waver, fluctuate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

  1. Tossed up and down the waves.
  2. Wavering, fickle.

verb

Etymology: First attested in the 1630'; borrowed from Latin flūctuātus, perfect passive participle of flūctuō (“(of the sea) to surge, swell; (of man) to waver, fluctuate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix).

  1. To vary irregularly; to swing.
  2. To undulate.

    One of them, at great Expence of Algebra, proves, that the Motes, which in Scotomias, we seem to have in our Eyes, are not real Bodies fluctuating in them.

  3. To be irresolute; to waver.

    I fluctuated between wishing he was back home and wishing I'd never met him.

  4. To cause to vary irregularly.
  5. To rise and fall as a wave; to be tossed up and down the waves.