nutation

The English word “nutation” has 4 meanings listed here.

noun

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

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

Keep exploring: in the interactive dictionary every word of a definition is a link. Open “nutation” there

The English dictionary on Glottosphere has 650,529 entries with a page. Browse the English dictionary.

Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.