WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
ro•ta•tion
(rō tā′shən),USA pronunciation n.
ro•ta′tion•al, adj.
- the act of rotating;
a turning around as on an axis. - Astronomy
- the movement or path of the earth or a heavenly body turning on its axis.
- one complete turn of such a body.
- regularly recurring succession, as of officials.
- AgricultureSee crop rotation.
- Mathematics
- an operation that rotates a geometric figure about a fixed point.
- curl (def. 17).
- Games[Pool.]a game in which the balls are played in order by number.
- Sport[Baseball.]See pitching rotation.
- Latin rotātiōn- (stem of rotātiō) a rotation, rolling, equivalent. to rotāt(us) (see rotate1) + -iōn- -ion
- 1545–55
'rotational' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):