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nutation

noun

  1. type of motion in astronomy. A component of the rotating motion of a planet under the influence of gravitational pull by moons, other planets or the central star
  2. the spiral movement of a plant organ during growth, also known as circumnutation
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Wiktionary

noun

Etymology: 1610s, from Latin nūtātiō (“nodding”), from nūtō (“to nod”). Compare mutation.

  1. A bobbing motion that accompanies the precession of a spinning rigid body.
  2. A nodding motion (of the head etc.).
  3. Any of several irregularities in the precession of the equinoxes caused by varying torque applied to the Earth by the Sun and the Moon.
  4. The circular motion of the tip of a growing shoot.