Category:Nutation

Nu*ta"tion, n. Etym: [l. nutatio a nodding, fr. nutare to nod: cf. F. Nutation.]

1. The act of nodding. So from the midmost the nutation spreads, round and more round, o'er All the sea of heads. Pope.

2. (astron.)

Defn: a very small libratory motion of the earth's axis, by which its Inclination to the plane of the ecliptic is constantly varying by a Small amount.

3. (bot.) (a) the motion of a flower in following the apparent movement of the Sun, from the east in the morning to the west in the evening. (b) circumnutation.