a single swing or movement in one direction of an oscillating body.
fluctuation between beliefs, opinions, conditions, etc.
Physics.
an effect expressible as a quantity that repeatedly and regularly fluctuates above and below some mean value, as the pressure of a sound wave or the voltage of an alternating current.
a single fluctuation between maximum and minimum values in such an effect.
Mathematics.
the difference between the least upper bound and the greatest lower bound of the functional values of a function in a given interval.
Also called saltus. the limit of the oscillation in an interval containing a given point, as the length of the interval approaches zero.
Origin of oscillation
1650–60; <Latin oscillātiōn- (stem of oscillātiō) a swinging, equivalent to oscillāt(us) (see oscillate) + -iōn--ion
Two photons, for instance, can be entangled so they always have the opposite polarization, or angle of oscillation.
‘Schrödinger’s Web’ offers a sneak peek at the quantum internet|Dan Garisto|September 28, 2020|Science News
You can think of the problems that need solving as the demand and human skills as the supply, and the two are in constant oscillation, including, every few decades or centuries, a massive shift.
A Human-Centric World of Work: Why It Matters, and How to Build It|Vanessa Bates Ramirez|May 29, 2020|Singularity Hub
The oscillation caused these microbubbles to grow, then violently collapse.
New ultrasound treatment kills off cancer cells|Alison Pearce Stevens|April 10, 2020|Science News For Students
Baryon oscillation is basically sound waves in the early Universe.
Using Black Holes to Measure Dark Energy, Like a BOSS|Matthew R. Francis|April 13, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This is a very simple engine of the oscillation type, and there should be little trouble in making it.
Boys' Book of Model Boats|Raymond Francis Yates
The hot weather, which lengthened the steel rods, raised the column of mercury, and so brought the centre of oscillation higher.
Captains of Industry|James Parton
And so there is produced an oscillation and an average which represent a social state, an epoch, sometimes a whole civilization.
Amiel's Journal|Henri-Frdric Amiel
The oscillation frequency of the plate was once in a second, and the magnification employed was ten thousand times.
Life Movements in Plants|Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
This audion is in a feed-back circuit, the oscillation frequency of which depends upon the condenser C and the inductance L.
Letters of a Radio-Engineer to His Son|John Mills
British Dictionary definitions for oscillation
oscillation
/ (ˌɒsɪˈleɪʃən) /
noun
physicsstatistics
regular fluctuation in value, position, or state about a mean value, such as the variation in an alternating current or the regular swinging of a pendulum
A stage in inflammation in which the accumulation of white blood cells in the small vessels arrests the passage of blood, thus causing a to-and-fro movement of the blood at each cardiac contraction.