rotationn.
/rə(ʊ)ˈteɪʃn/, U.S. /roʊˈteɪʃən/ 1. Alchemy. The interconversion of the four elements; a cycle of changes in which this occurs. Now historical.
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a1500 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Ashm.) f. 407 But fyrste of elementtes make rotacion; In-to water thyne erthe torne..then the water makythe ayer..and of eyer fyer.
1627 G. Hakewill Apologie i. v. 58 For what if the first matter, digested into the foure elements of all things, containe wrapped vp in its rotations the causes of all miseries?
1792 R. Graves tr. Medit. Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ii. 70 According to their philosophy, the elements in a continual rotation were changed, by condensation or rarefaction, into each other.
a1907 J. Adam Relig. Teachers Greece (1908) x–xi. 231 The ceaseless rotation of the elements is always reproducing..the process by which the world as a whole is created and destroyed.
1988 Jrnl. Biblical Res. 107 466 The imprisonment of the soul in the ceaseless rotation of the four elements.
2. The action or an act of moving round a centre or turning round and round on an axis.motion of rotation: see the first element.
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [noun]
swayc1374
turning1390
overwhelming?a1439
circumvolution1447
winding1530
conversion1541
rotationa1550
revolution1566
gyring?1578
revolve1598
circulation1605
gyration1615
evolution1654
sweep1679
gyrating1837
revolving1867
a1550 ( G. Ripley Compend of Alchemy (Bodl. e Mus.) f. 51 Things being in earth, without any doubt Be ingendred of rotacione of the heauens aboute.
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. x. f. 148 The Ocean runnynge towarde the West, may by the rotation or impulsion of the heauens [L. impulsu coelorum], bee dryuen about the hole earth.
1605 T. Tymme tr. J. Du Chesne Pract. Chymicall & Hermeticall Physicke i. ii. 8 By the yearly and continual rotation and reuolution of the right heauen,..and thinges might be well gouerned.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning f. 36 The opinion of Copernicus touching the rotation of the earth. View more context for this quotation
1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing 158 [A] puzled Candidate,..being ask'd what a circle was, describ'd it by the rotation of his hand.
1720 R. Welton tr. T. Alvares de Andrade Sufferings Son of God I. viii. 200 I see..all Things..as if they were whirl'd about by the Quick Rotation of a Wheel.
1785 W. Cowper Task iii. 160 Some..tell us whence the stars;..what gave them first Rotation.
1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art I. 559 His diurnal rotation is believed to be performed in 10 hours, 16 minutes, 2 seconds.
1851 S. P. Woodward Man. Mollusca i. 64 Eyes fixed, incapable of rotation.
1936 S. Glasstone Recent Adv. Gen. Chem. ii. 78 The free rotation of the methyl groups about the central carbon atom.
1949 Our Industry (Anglo-Iranian Oil Co.) (ed. 2) 338 Internal thrust-races and glands permit rotation of the bottom connection.
2007 Ultra Fit 17 No. 5. 87/1 Those that did get injured had more rotation of the knee.
3.
a. Regular succession or recurrence; a cyclically recurring series, order, or period.
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the world > time > change > alternation > rotation > [noun]
circumrotation1610
rotation1610
1610 J. Healey tr. St. Augustine Citie of God xxi. xvii. 858 That rotation and circum-volution of misery and blisse which hee [sc. Origen] held that all man-kinde should rune in.
a1676 M. Hale Primitive Originat. Mankind (1677) 150 That by a kind of circulation or rotation Arts have their successive invention and perfection.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 172 Medicines..suffer a rotation of fashions like our cloaths.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. i. iv. 45 It observes a constant rotation, and is conveyed regularly from the earth to the air, and from the air to the earth.
1779 J. Moore View Society & Manners France (1789) I. xxix. 244 There is a constant rotation of society at Ferney.
1802 C. Wilmot Irish Peer on Continent (1920) 67 Patisserie, omelette, confitures &c. succeed in slow rotation.
1895 W. T. Linskill Golf (ed. 3) 45 A penalty stroke shall not be counted the stroke of a player, and shall not affect the rotation of play.
1931 V. Woolf Waves 150 These delicious mouthfuls of roast duck, fitly piled with vegetables, following each other in exquisite rotation of warmth, weight, sweet and bitter, past my palate.
1963 Listener 17 Jan. 141/1 The structural skeleton of the movement is sixteen rotations of the melody, containing fifteen rotations of the rhythmic pattern or talea.
1991 Purchasing & Supply Managem. Apr. 39/4 Comparisons were made..between European and Japanese firms and their achievements in stock rotation.
b. With reference to a group of people: regular and recurring succession in position, responsibility, office, etc.
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the world > time > change > alternation > rotation > [noun] > in duties, etc.
rotation1656
Buggins' turn1901
1656 J. Harrington Common-wealth of Oceana 22 Equal Rotation is equall vicissitude in Government, or Succession unto Magistracy conferred for such convenient terms..as take in the whole body by parts.
1660 J. Milton Readie Way Free Commonw. (ed. 2) 62 A numerous assembly of them all formd and conven'd on purpose with the wariest rotation.
a1721 J. Sheffield Wks. (1753) II. 180 This is no small advantage in Republicks, where a sort of rotation is necessary, by which men are seen under several capacities.
1882 Cent. Mag. June 289/1 The practice of frequent removals, to which the absurd name of ‘rotation’ was afterward given.
1888 J. Bryce Amer. Commonw. II. xl. 88 In America..the tendency is towards ‘rotation’ in office.
1936 H. Belshaw et al. Agric. Organization in N.Z. 706 Large sheep stations usually have their sheep shorn by organized shearing gangs who travel the districts shearing at each station in an arranged rotation.
1971 Nature 8 Oct. 434/1 Rotation of personnel between research and routine duties would ensure flexibility, feedback and awareness of practical problems.
2006 MBA Career Bible 43 Rotations also allow for new MBA hires to gain experience with different business units at a large organization.
c. Each of a series of placements in different hospital departments undertaken by a doctor, nurse, medical student, etc., in order to gain skills and experience. Also: a series of such placements.
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1946 Amer. Jrnl. Nursing 46 872/3 At the end of each quarter's rotation, the teaching supervisor adds to the record the clinical practice ratings (efficiency) grade for each rotation within the service.
1977 R. M. Veatch Case Stud. Med. Ethics vi. 148 He was a third-year medical student on his clinical rotation through the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department.
1990 P. Cornwell Postmortem iii. 32 She left the VMC hospital emergency room, where she was currently completing a rotation in trauma surgery.
2001 Daily Tel. 7 Dec. 22/6 After a year as senior house officer in Sheffield, he joined the basic surgical rotation at Frenchay hospital in Bristol for two years.
d. Baseball. The order of play assigned to pitchers for matches of a particular series; (also) a team's regular starting pitchers. Frequently in starting rotation.
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society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > baseball > [noun] > usual starting order for pitchers
starting rotation1963
1963 E. Richter Making of Big-League Pitcher x. 107 He is expected to instruct, to advise the manager on rotation plans.
1970 R. Hoopes What Baseball Manager Does 45 For a starting rotation, he wants at least three..solid starters.
1978 Detroit Free Press 2 Apr. 6 e/3 The Pirates have Bert Blyleven in the same starting rotation with John Candelaria.
1989 P. Dickson Baseball Dict. 329/2 A modern manager likes to leave spring training with his rotation set for, at least, the early weeks of the season.
4.
a. Agriculture. The practice or system of regularly changing the crops grown on a piece of ground in successive years, according to a definite order, typically to preserve the quality of the soil. Also: a particular sequence of crops grown according to this system. More fully crop rotation. Cf. course n. 31.The introduction of crop rotation into England (from the Netherlands) is attributed to Charles, 2nd Viscount Townsend (‘Turnip Townsend’: 1674–1738).
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the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > rotation of crops
rotation1757
course1767
succession1779
turnip-system1805
convertible husbandry1811
four-field course1842
1757 R. Maxwell Pract. Husbandman 226 The Potatoes, Turnips, or Cabbages..to be succeeded by Pease, Beans, or Tares, any of which leads back to Barley, Clover, Wheat, and Pease again in a Round or Rotation.
1765 J. Mills New Syst. Pract. Husbandry V. Index p. xix The necessity of a change of crops demonstrated and the most proper rotation of them pointed out.
1778 W. Marshall Minutes Agric. Digest 76 A regular rotation of Crops and Fallow is, perhaps, more convenient than profitable.
1792 A. Young Trav. France 346 The miserable rotations commonly practised in France.
1811 Communications to Board Agric. VII. i. xxiii. 163 The best husbandry in Mr. Hill's opinion is the alternate use of the five and of the six crop rotation.
1832 Edinb. Rev. July 339 It is the Reviewer's trade to sit watching, not only the tillage, crop-rotation, marketings and good or evil husbandry of the Economic Earth, but also [etc.].
1874 W. Stubbs Constit. Hist. I. iii. 50 The proper rotation of crops and fallow might be observed.
1912 Bull. Bureau Plant Industry, U.S. Dept. Agric. No. 260. 55 This difficulty does not seem to be encountered when the cantaloupe or the cucumber is selected as the initial crop in the rotation.
1955 F. G. Ashbrook Butchering, Processing & Preserv. Meat ii. 35 Farms on which the crop rotation includes wheat, corn, buckwheat,..and similar seed-producers are especially attractive to upland game birds.
1971 C. Johansen in R. E. Pfadt Fund. Appl. Entomol. (ed. 2) vi. 178 Certain kinds of crop rotations may aid in the control of pests.
2007 R. Lovegrove Silent Fields ii. 40 In the pre-enclosure era, the huge open fields around the nucleated villages..supported a rotation of arable crops, fallows, and meadowland.
b. Forestry. The cycle of growth and felling or cutting of trees; the time occupied by one such cycle.
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the world > food and drink > farming > forestry or arboriculture > [noun] > crop rotation
rotation1886
1886 Amer. Naturalist 20 521 (title) Causes of forest rotation.
1888 E. E. Fernandez Man. Indian Sylviculture i. 6 There can hence be no rotation in the case of selection-worked forests.
1927 Forestry 1 101 A more detailed investigation of the returns from quality class V forests showed that at 100 years (the financial rotation) the yield was 1.06 per cent., and at 120 years (the more usual rotation) it was 1.03 per cent.
1997 Conservation Biol. 11 625/1 If rotation went from 50 to 100 years..the probability of colonizing a new site would drop.
2003 W. L. Adamowicz et al. in P. J. Burton et al. Towards Sustainable Managem. Boreal Forest vi. 186 One way of determining the optimal rotation is to compare the costs and benefits of harvesting the stand at a particular age versus delaying the harvest decision for at least one more year.
5. Physical Chemistry. The turning of the plane of polarization of plane-polarized light by an optically active substance through which it passes; the angle through which the plane of polarization is turned after passage through such a substance.molecular, optical, phase, specific rotation: see the first element.
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1820 J. F. W. Herschel in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 110 62 A force inherent in its molecules [sc. those of rock crystal]..by which they communicate a rotation in an invariable direction to the axes of polarisation of the luminous rays.
1881 Science 26 Mar. 143/2 If free alkalies..are added to a solution of sugar the rotation which sugar occasions in polarized light decreases.
1920 A. T. Lincoln Textbk. Physical Chem. (rev. ed.) xiii. 141 The rotation of optically active substances is very different in solution from the rotation of the pure substance.
1963 Radiation Res. 20 133 Polymer wave functions which were adequate for treating absorption of light were incorrect for the rotation of polarized light.
2000 A. Norton Dynamic Fields & Waves v. 86 The rotation of the polarization of light as it passes through certain solutions is due to the structure of the molecules.
6. Crystallography, Mathematics, Physics. The conceptual operation of turning a system about an axis by a known amount, without alteration of lengths and distances; an instance of this.
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > revolution or rotation > [noun] > rotation as a wheel > conceptual operation
rotation1833
1833 J. F. W. Herschel Astronomy i. 40 Such changes, however, are inconsistent with the idea of a rotation of a body of regular figure about its axis of symmetry, performed in free space.
1867 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) III. 682/2 Two figures which are symmetrical with respect to an axis can always be superposed by causing one to make a complete rotation about that axis.
1899 W. J. Lewis Treat. Crystallogr. iii. 19 When the least angle which gives interchangeability is 90°, the rotation can be effected four times before the crystal returns to its original position.
1965 A. F. Brown tr. G. S. Zhdanov Crystal Physics v. 144 Symmetry groups containing only the operations of reflection, rotation and inversion, and not containing any translations, are called point groups.
2006 M. Ronan Symmetry & Monster iii. 35 The number of times you must do the operation to achieve this is called its order, so, for example, a mirror symmetry has order 2, and a rotation by 90° has order 4.
7. Mathematics. = curl n. 3e.
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the world > relative properties > number > mathematical number or quantity > tensor > [noun] > vector > vector product
curl1873
outer multiplication1881
outer product1884
triad1885
rotation1908
1895 Philos. Trans. 1894 (Royal Soc.) A. 185 745 This term must be of the third degree... It can therefore only involve the rotation (f, g, h) and its curl, each of them linearly.]
1908 Proc. Royal Soc. 81 App. p. xii It is implied..that magnetic force is related to electric force as involving the differential rotation or curl of the latter.
1923 H. Levy tr. C. Runge Vector Anal. ii. 111 The vector field f, when its rotation is not zero, that is, when f is not the gradient of a scalar function, leads to a second vector field g = ∇ × f.
1972 A. G. Howson Handbk. Terms Algebra & Anal. xxxv. 175 In physical applications, curl represents some measure of rotation (older texts often describe curl f as the rotation of f and denote it by rot f).
1995 C. F. Stevens Six Core Theories Mod. Physics i. 4 The rotation, or curl, ∇ x E characterizes how much the field E departs from being conservative.
8. Statistics. The mathematical rearrangement of a body of data, regarded as representing a set of points in a space, so that the axes of the space come to lie in directions of particular relevance.
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the world > relative properties > number > probability or statistics > [noun] > groups or arrangements of data > division or arrangement into
stratification1920
rotation1935
ordination1954
1935 L. L. Thurstone Vectors of Mind ix. 222 Each independent rotation may be regarded as a disturbance of a pair of columns in the factorial matrix.
1972 Jrnl. Social Psychol. 87 69 Rotation to simple structure was made for five factors in each case, though not all five could be interpreted.
2002 P. H. Lodhi et al. in R. R. McCrae & J. Allik Five-factor Model Personality across Cultures 238 It can capitalize on chance considerably by introducing high obliqueness (i.e., high intercorrelations among factors) in the process of rotation.
Phrases
P1. by rotation: on the basis of a regular succession or recurrence (esp. with reference to the holding of office).
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1763 Brit. Mag. Apr. 542 This has lately been remarkable of the word rotation introduced by advertisements from the Police relating to the justices sitting by rotation, the felony-rotation in Bowstreet, and the patrole of thief-taking rotations, proposed to be established on all the great roads. In short, nothing is done now but by rotation.
1769 W. Falconer Shipwreck (ed. 3) ii. 73 So the brave mariners their pumps attend, And help incessant by rotation lend.
1800 P. Colquhoun Treat. Commerce & Police R. Thames xiii. 366 Five of the twenty-one Directors shall go out of office by rotation every year.
1882 Law Times 9 Sept. 45/1 No person, other than a retiring director, shall be eligible to supply the place of a director retiring by rotation.
1993 Ann. Rep. & Accts. (Racal Electronics plc) 19/2 In accordance with the Company's Articles of Association, Sir Ernest Harrison and R. V. Holley retire by rotation.
P2. in rotation: in or according to a regular sequence; in a recurring succession.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > alternation > rotation > [adverb]
aboutOE
whilemeala1382
by whiles1382
in coursea1400
in turna1500
circularly1648
in rotation1771
round-by-round1933
rotationally1950
1771 T. Smollett Humphry Clinker III. 6 The council is composed of deacons, one of whom is returned every year, in rotation.
1776 P. Van Cortlandt Let. 28 Nov. in J. Judd Corr. Van Cortlandt Family (1977) 124 The troops cantooned in this part of the country, may be employed in rotation to assist in the work.
1833 H. Martineau Manch. Strike (new ed.) 73 Three members..sit daily,..viz., the treasurer, secretary, and one of the other members in rotation.
1847 W. C. L. Martin Ox 33/1 It is not..until the close of the third [year] that the [teeth] next in rotation succeed.
1861 Amer. Agriculturist Jan. 11/1 If vegetable manures are applied in rotation.
1880 H. Cowley Maid of Arragon 40 De Courci and the Moors dar'd not resign Their heavy lids to sleep, but in rotation.
1925 G. K. Chesterton Everlasting Man i. ii. 48 The terrible Troglodytes of the Stone Age lifted alternate legs in rotation.
1987 Punch 28 Oct. 103/2 But the three men most affected by the allegation..all die in inexplicable rotation shortly afterward.
2006 S. M. Stirling Sky People iv. 101 The priest's job was probably held by local heads-of-household in rotation on a part-time basis.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.† rotation-tide n. Obsolete
rotation axis n.
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1853 Technologisches Wörterbuch I. 83 Bewegungsaxe, rotation-axis.
1856 B. Price Treat. Infinitesimal Calculus III. i. iii. 100 With respect to moment-centres taken at any point in space. the moment of the rotation-axis coincident with the central axis is the least.
1937 W. L. Bragg Atomic Struct. Minerals i. 13 It is the possibility of screw axes and glide planes, in addition to rotation axes and reflection planes, which gives rise to the large number of space-groups.
2006 Nature 16 Nov. 283/2 In the adjacent fluid the rotation is a function of distance from the rotation axis.
rotation list n.
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1824 C. Daubeny Protestant's Compan. vi. 248 There is, therefore, for the information of the public, a rotation list published every six months, of the Churches, with the date and the month and days when the host is to be exhibited.
1992 News Jrnl. (Wilmington, Delaware) c3/2 That's my rotation list for the rest of the month.
rotation movement n.
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1836 Math. Misc. No. 3. 138 These I shall now attempt to connect theoretically with the rotation movement [of the winds].
2003 P. Gibbons & P. Tehan in K. S. Beeton Man. Therapy Masterclasses: Vertebral Column vii. 98/1 The osteopathic profession developed a nomenclature to classify spinal motion based upon the coupling of sidebending and rotation movements.
rotation rate n.
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1867 Chambers's Jrnl. 12 Oct. 642/1 We have compared the rotation-rate of our test-planet with the earth's rate during the past two hundred years.
1963 W. M. Macek & D. T. M. Davis in Appl. Physics Lett. 2 67/1 The sensing of rotation rate with respect to an inertial frame of reference has been demonstrated.
1996 C. Frankel Volcanoes Solar Syst. ix. 181 It is at those points in its elliptic orbit that the Moon experiences the greatest change in its orbital velocity, whereas its rotation rate remains constant.
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1865 Proc. Amer. Philol. Soc. 10 165 Evidences of rotation-tides.
1866 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 91 162 This triple comparison exhibits..a connection between temperature, gravity, and magnetic force, which, taken in conjunction with my previously adduced evidences of rotation-tides, appears sufficient to adequately explain all of the well-established normal meteorological fluctuations.
1869 Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc. 1865–8 10 406 A former communication on the rotation-tide.
C2.
rotation crop n. Agriculture a crop which is grown in a rotation (sense 4a).
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1794 R. Fraser Gen. View Devon 43 In some parts of the county turnips are introduced as a rotation crop.
1868 Jrnl. Agric. 3rd Ser. 4 288 The mustard is not usually a rotation crop.
1997 N.Y. Times (Nexis) 16 July d2 The rice produced as a rotation crop for the sugar fields.
rotation curve n. Astronomy a graph of the orbital speed of stars, gas clouds, etc., in a galaxy plotted against their distance from the galactic centre.The rotation curve of a typical spiral galaxy, outside the central bulge, is flat, the orbital speed remaining approximately constant with distance rather than decreasing with distance as predicted by Kepler's third law; the existence of dark matter has been postulated to account for this discrepancy.
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1960 Proc. National Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 46 10 The rotation curve for the Galactic System.
2006 P. Halpern & P. Wesson Brave New Universe iv. 124 Other galaxies..possess flat rotation curves; over vast distances from their centers, the velocities of their stars do not taper off.
rotation grass n. Agriculture grass sown as a rotation crop.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > crop or crops > [noun] > crop in rotation
shift1787
rotation grass1864
1864 A. Sturrock in Edinb. Vet. Rev. 6 475 So far as rotation-grass is concerned, the first step to have good pasture..is a proper selection of fresh clean seeds.
1936 A. Bridges in J. P. Maxton Regional Types Brit.Agric. (2007) i. 27 Rotation grass is even more an important feature of Scottish farming than in England.
1997 M. E. Turner et al. Agric. Rent in Eng., 1690–1914 viii. 148 The area of crops, rotation grass, and permanent grass fluctuated from 23.4 to about 25 million acres.
rotation group n. Mathematics the group (group n. 7) consisting of all rotations about the origin of three-dimensional space.
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1896 Amer. Jrnl. Math. 18 184 The isomorphism is hemihedrical as soon as, in the quaternary substitution group representing the rotation group, a simultaneous change of signs of all the 4 variables occurs.
1955 B. Higman Appl. Group-theoret. & Matrix Methods xii. 181 The rotation group in three dimensions is isomorphic with a factor group of the special unitary group in two dimensions containing half the number of elements.
1990 Glasgow Math. Jrnl. 32 326 If N = 2, 4, 8, 9, 16 we get one of the regular maps on the sphere..which explains why in these cases B/(N) is a finite rotation group.
rotation office n. now historical a judicial court in which justices officiate by rotation.
ΘΚΠ
society > law > administration of justice > judicial body, assembly, or court > [noun] > court of justices of peace > in which justices or magistrates sit in rotation
rotation office1768
1768 W. Donaldson Life Sir Bartholomew Sapskull II. iii. 16 I would propose that the officers of the several divisions, should attend at the Rotation-office every morning.
1769 Ann. Reg. 1768 57/2 The sitting Magistrates..at the Rotation-office in Whitechapel.
1812 Sporting Mag. 40 283 At the Leeds Rotation-office this month, John Waddington, of Farnley.., was convicted..for shooting a hare.
1991 Law & Hist. Rev. 9 243 The next witness, Thomas Forrast, gave evidence that he was present at the Rotation office when Levy brought the prisoners in.
Derivatives
roˈtation-like adj.
ΚΠ
1952 D. Thomas Let. 11 Dec. in Sel. Lett. (1966) 388 It was, I think, originally a little ‘organ’..full of rotation-like gossip.
2003 Y.-C. Lai et al. in N. Ye Handbk. Data Mining 331 Physically, these two requirements amount to having a well-behaved rotation-like motion.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, November 2010; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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