different between flutter vs fluctuation

English

Etymology

From Middle English floteren, from Old English floterian, flotorian (“to float about, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flutr?n?, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *flut?n? (“to float”), equivalent to float +? -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with Low German fluttern, fluddern (“to flutter”), German flittern, Dutch fladderen; also Albanian flutur (“butterfly”). More at float.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?fl?t?/, [?fl???]
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?fl?t?/
• Rhymes: -?t?(?)

Verb

flutter (third-person singular simple present flutters, present participle fluttering, simple past and past participle fluttered)

1. (intransitive) To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.
2. (intransitive) Of a winged animal: to flap the wings without flying; to fly with a light flapping of the wings.
3. (intransitive, aerodynamics) To undergo divergent oscillations (potentially to the point of causing structural failure) due to a positive feedback loop between elastic deformation and aerodynamic forces.
4. (transitive) To cause something to flap.

5. (transitive) To drive into disorder; to throw into confusion.
6. (intransitive) To be in a state of agitation or uncertainty.
7. (intransitive, obsolete) To be frivolous.

Translations

Noun

flutter (countable and uncountable, plural flutters)

1. The act of fluttering; quick and irregular motion.
   • c. 1838, Richard Monckton Milnes, The Forest

     the chirp and flutter of some single bird

2. A state of agitation.

   • flutter of spirits

   • 1900, Henry James, The Soft Side The Third Person Chapter 3

     Their visitor was an issue - at least to the imagination, and they arrived finally, under provocation, at intensities of flutter in which they felt themselves so compromised by his hoverings that they could only consider with relief the fact of nobody's knowing.

3. An abnormal rapid pulsation of the heart.
4. (uncountable, aerodynamics) An extremely dangerous divergent oscillation caused by a positive feedback loop between the elastic deformation of an object and the aerodynamic forces acting on it, potentially resulting in structural failure.
5. (Britain) A small bet or risky investment.
   • 30 July, 2009, Eurosport, Gray Matter: How will Schu do?

     So with his victory odds currently at 14/1 or 3/1 for the podium, he's still most certainly well worth a flutter […]

6. A hasty game of cards or similar.
7. (audio, electronics) The rapid variation of signal parameters, such as amplitude, phase, and frequency.

Derived terms

• aflutter
• flutter in the dovecote
• flutterby
• fluttersome
• fluttery

Translations

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fluctuati?nem, accusative singular of fluctuati?, from fluctu?, from fluctus.Morphologically fluctuate +? -ion

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fl?kt?u??e???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

fluctuation (countable and uncountable, plural fluctuations)

1. A motion like that of waves; a moving in this and that direction.

   the fluctuations of the sea

2. A wavering; unsteadiness.

   fluctuations of opinion

   fluctuations of prices

3. In medicine, a wave-like motion or undulation of a fluid in a natural or abnormal cavity (e.g. pus in an abscess), which is felt during palpation or percussion.

Related terms

• fluctuate

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin fluctuati?nem, accusative singular of fluctuati?, from fluctu?, from fluctus.

Pronunciation

Noun

fluctuation f (plural fluctuations)

1. fluctuation

Related terms

• fluctuer

Further reading

• “fluctuation” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).