fluctuate
verb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L331733 on Wikidata ↗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).
- Tossed up and down the waves.
- 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).
- To vary irregularly; to swing.
- 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.”
- To be irresolute; to waver.
“I fluctuated between wishing he was back home and wishing I'd never met him.”
- To cause to vary irregularly.
- To rise and fall as a wave; to be tossed up and down the waves.