Definition of Oscillation

1. Noun. The process of oscillating between states.

Specialized synonyms: Libration
Generic synonyms: Action, Activity, Natural Action, Natural Process
Derivative terms: Oscillate

2. Noun. (physics) a regular periodic variation in value about a mean.
Exact synonyms: Vibration
Category relationships: Natural Philosophy, Physics
Specialized synonyms: Ripple, Transient, Beat, Resonance, Sympathetic Vibration
Generic synonyms: Undulation, Wave
Derivative terms: Oscillate, Vibrate

3. Noun. A single complete execution of a periodically repeated phenomenon. "A year constitutes a cycle of the seasons"
Exact synonyms: Cycle
Generic synonyms: Periodic Event, Recurrent Event
Specialized synonyms: Cardiac Cycle, Carnot Cycle, Carnot's Ideal Cycle, Pass, Menstrual Cycle
Derivative terms: Oscillate

Definition of Oscillation

1. n. The act of oscillating; a swinging or moving backward and forward, like a pendulum; vibration.

Definition of Oscillation

1. Noun. the act of oscillating or the state of being oscillated ¹

2. Noun. a regular periodic fluctuation in value about some mean ¹

3. Noun. a single such cycle ¹

4. Noun. (mathematics) (context: of a function) defined for each point x in the domain of the function by \inf\left\{\mathrm{diam}(f(U))\mid U\mathrm{\ is\ a\ neighborhood\ of\ }x\right\}, and describes the difference (possibly ?) between the limit superior and limit inferior of the function near that point. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Oscillation

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Oscillation

1. 1. The act of oscillating; a swinging or moving backward and forward, like a pendulum; vibration. 2. Fluctuation; variation; change back and forth. "His mind oscillated, undoubtedly; but the extreme points of the oscillation were not very remote." (Macaulay) Axis of oscillation, Center of oscillation. See Axis, and Center. Origin: L. Oscillatio a swinging. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Oscillation

oscheocele
oscheocoele
oscillancy
oscillaria
oscillate
oscillated
oscillates
oscillating
oscillating vision
oscillation (current term)
oscillational
oscillationless
oscillationlike
oscillations
oscillative
oscillaton
oscillatons
oscillator
oscillatoria
oscillators
oscillatory
oscillatory potential
oscillatory reaction
oscillogram

Literary usage of Oscillation

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Practical treatise on the diseases of the eye by William Mackenzie, Thomas Wharton Jones (1855)
"In such cases, we naturally expect to find the eyeballs oscillatory ; but very often no oscillation can be detected, so that we are led to refer the ..."

2. Analytical Mechanics for Engineers by Fred B. Seely, Newton Edward Ensign (1921)
"The period, then, of a complete oscillation, of small amplitude, of a compound pendulum is, P —' P ' gr 158. Center of oscillation. ..."

3. Electric Waves: Being Researches on the Propagation of Electric Action with by Heinrich Hertz, Daniel Evan Jones (1893)
"IN an earlier paper1 I have shown how we may excite in a rectilinear unclosed conductor the fundamental electric oscillation which is proper to this ..."

4. Electric Waves: An Advanced Treatise on Alternating-current Theory by William Suddards Franklin (1909)
"The type of oscillation of a transmission line which is represented in Fig. 29 is perhaps the simplest kind of oscillation of which a transmission line is ..."

5. Theory and Calculations of Electrical Circuits by Charles Proteus Steinmetz (1917)
"Due to the energy losses caused by the oscillation, the successive swings decrease in amplitude, and the oscillation dies down. If, however, the cause which ..."

6. The Elementary Part of A Treatise on the Dynamics of a System of Rigid by Edward John Routh (1891)
"In the second case the rod is horizontal. When the length of the rod is equal to the latus rectum the oscillation is not tanto- ..."

7. A Manual of Applied Mechanics by William John Macquorn Rankine (1877)
"... axis and at the centre of oscillation in the proportions given by Article 581, equations 1 and 6 ; and by the definition of the centre of oscillation, ..."

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