Oscillated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moved in a regular rhythm back and forth or side to side repeatedly
2. Shifted between positions or directions in a continuous swinging or vibrating motion
3. Swung or vibrated with a steady repetitive movement between two points

Etymology: "Oscillated" is the past tense of "oscillate", and the verb's roots lie in a Roman image of a masked face swaying in a breeze. Latin "ōscillum" meant "a swing," and it is usually linked to a diminutive of "ōs," meaning "mouth" or "face," referring to a little mask hung on a tree that twisted and rocked with the wind. Those swinging ornaments gave Latin speakers "ōscillāre," "to swing," which English later borrowed as a verb in the early 1700s, first recorded in 1726. The shift from a literal swinging object to a scientific idea came gradually. English writers at first used the word for physical swaying, but its sense of repeated back-and-forth motion made it useful for describing pendulums, waves, and eventually electrical currents. Its verb form "oscillated" carries that same rhythm of movement from one side to the other.

Synonyms: swung, wavered, vacillated, fluctuated, alternated

Antonyms: remained, stabilized, settled