Nu*ta"tion (?), n. [L. nutatio a nodding, fr. nutare to nod: cf. F. nutation.]
1.
The act of nodding.
So from the midmost the nutation spreads,
Round and more round, o'er all the sea of heads.
Pope.
2. Astron.
A very small libratory motion of the earth's axis, by which its inclination to the plane of the ecliptic is constantly varying by a small amount.
3. Bot. (a)
The motion of a flower in following the apparent movement of the sun, from the east in the morning to the west in the evening.
(b)
Circumnutation.
© Webster 1913.