Etymologically
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rotation

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /rəʊˈteɪ.ʃən/, US /roʊˈteɪ.ʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin rotatio (“a turning about in a circle”),[2][3][4] from the past participle stem of rotāre (“to turn, revolve, roll”) (see rotate),[2][4] from rota, wheel (see rotary).[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The action of turning round a centre: 1555 in the OED, about 1550 in MWU, the 1550s in Etymonline.[6][3][2]

Semantic evolution

In alchemy it was used earlier, in the late 15th century, for the transmutation of the four elements into one another.[2] A recurring series or period is from 1610 (the 1610s),[6][2] and regular succession in office or duties from 1656.[6] The rotation of crops is from 1778.[6][7] In crystallography, mathematics and physics, the operation of turning a system about an axis is from 1899.[6] Word Origins notes that Latin rota also gave rotund, rotunda and round.[5]

Timeline

  • late 15th century – in alchemy.[2]
  • 1555 – turning round a centre.[6]
  • 1610 – recurrence.[6]
  • 1656 – succession in office.[6]
  • 1778 – crop rotation.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of turning round a centre or axis, or one complete turn.
  2. A regular cycle of events or of people taking turns: in rotation.
  3. The planned change of crops grown on a field from season to season.
  4. (mathematics) A turning of a figure or coordinate system about a point or axis.

Word family

  • rotational
  • mutarotation
  • autorotation
  • dextrorotation
  • levorotation
  • nonrotation
  • crop rotation
  • optical rotation

Usage notes

In Worcestershire dialect in rotation meant in order.[8]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)