undulationn.
/ˌʌndjᵿˈleɪʃn/, /ˌʌndʒᵿˈleɪʃn/, U.S. /ˌəndʒəˈleɪʃən/, /ˌəndjəˈleɪʃən/ 1. in extended use.1777 S. Johnson Let. 29 Sept. (1992) III. 78 Mrs. Langton grows old, and has lost much of her undulation and mobility.in combination.1838 W. Whewell in I. Todhunter William Whewell (1876) II. 269 A curious..paper upon the theory of the rainbow treated undulation-wise.† d. spec. (See quot. 1681) Obsolete. rare.
a. The action of moving in a wave-like manner; a gentle rising and falling in the manner of waves.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > [noun] > undulatory motion
waving1571
undulation1646
roll1743
wave-motion1846
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xv. 142 Those animals, whose bodies consist of..annulary fibers, and move by undulation, that is, like the waves of the Sea. View more context for this quotation
1664 H. Power Exper. Philos. i. 36 Their motion is..restless and constant, with perpetual undulations and wavings, like Eels or Snakes.
1707 J. Floyer Physician's Pulse-watch 267 The undulation of the Spirits towards the Brain produces all our Sensations.
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck i. 13 Soon, this transient undulation o'er, The sea subsides.
1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. iii, in Lamia & Other Poems 199 His golden tresses..Kept undulation round his eager neck.
1854 R. Owen Struct. Skeleton & Teeth in Orr's Circle Sci.: Org. Nature I. 228 Whales and porpoises progress by bounding movements or undulations in a vertical plane.
1875 H. E. Manning Internal Mission of Holy Ghost iv. 106 We are as unstable as..the restless undulation of the water.
b. A wave-like motion of the air or another medium, as in the propagation of sound or light.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > physics > science of sound > sound-waves > [noun]
undulation1658
wave1832
sound-wave1846
the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > light > emission of light, radiation > [noun] > wave-like motion
undulation1802
1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words (at cited word) Undulation of the air.
1673 Philos. Trans. 1672 (Royal Soc.) 7 5148 The other Secondary Affections of Winds; as their Undulation,..Opposition, etc.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. (at cited word) Sound, A Wave or Undulation of Air.
1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind iv. §1. 117 Each undulation must be made up of the advance and recoil of innumerable particles of elastic air.
1802 Young in Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 92 21 The undulations of green light being nearly in the ratio of 6½.
1870 H. Spencer Princ. Psychol. (ed. 2) I. i. iii. 47 Those minute agents that terminate the nerves of the retina are acted on by luminiferous undulations.
c. transferred. Of sound.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > thing heard > [noun] > sound > wave-like motion
undulation1668
1668 J. Dryden Of Dramatick Poesie 2 Those little undulations of sound..still seeming to retain somewhat of their first horrour.
1705 J. Addison Remarks Italy 42 Two parallel Walls that beat the Sound back on each other, 'till the Undulation is quite worn out.
1791 A. Radcliffe Romance of Forest II. xi. 131 The notes floated on the air in soft undulations.
1851 J. A. Froude Homer in Short Stud. (1867) II. 166 The actions of men..crumble away into the softer undulations of prose.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > disorders of stomach > [noun] > gastric disturbance
working1577
undulation1681
gastricity1796
collywobbles1823
all of a rejumble1866
tummy upset1926
Delhi belly1942
Spanish tummy1967
tummy bug1969
1681 N. Grew Compar. Anat. Stomachs & Guts vi. 25 in Musæum Regalis Societatis Vndulation, is when the Contraction is made in several parts of the Stomach successively.
2. A wave-like curve or a series of these; an undulating curvature or sweep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > curvature > series of curves > [noun] > wave-like curve(s)
wave1547
undulation1670
flow1881
1670 J. Evelyn Sylva (ed. 2) 119 The Root of the wilder sort [is] incomparable for its crisped undulations.
1803 G. Shaw Gen. Zool. IV. 497 Scales..edged with yellow, so as to form numerous obliquely transverse undulations over the whole body.
1846 W. B. Carpenter Man. Physiol. 186 Minute tubuli,..exhibiting numerous minute undulations, and sometimes more decided curvatures, in their course.
1875 T. Seaton Man. Fret Cutting 36 How..you will turn or bend the stalks, so as to give a natural undulation and appearance to the whole work.
3.
a. The fact of forming or presenting a series of rounded heights and hollows; an undulating rise and fall of level.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > [noun] > undulating form
waving1789
waviness1790
undulation1798
billowiness1826
hill and dale1918
1798 S. Lee Young Lady's Tale in H. Lee Canterbury Tales II. 441 For many a mile, with graceful undulation, wandered the high road.
1835 N. P. Willis Pencillings I. xxiv. 167 A continual undulation of rock and sand.
b. An instance of this; also, a single rise and fall of this nature.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > shape > unevenness > [noun] > undulating form > instance of
undulation1823
up and down1856
1823 J. Rutter Delineations of Fonthill 86 The undulations of the surface occasionally give a beautiful variety to the scene.
1878 T. H. Huxley Physiography (ed. 2) 214 Here the strata..have been thrown into a succession of gentle undulations.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1921; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1646