different between undulation vs contortion

English

Etymology

undulate +? -ion, or borrowed from Medieval Latin undul?ti?; compare French ondulation.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

undulation (countable and uncountable, plural undulations)

1. An instance or act of undulating.
   • 1929, Robert Dean Frisbee, The Book of Puka-Puka (republished by Eland, 2019; p. 77):

     But the next undulation would raise us, showing the island ablaze in the sunlight, an emerald of dazzling beauty resting lightly on the bosom of the sea.

2. A wavy appearance or outline; waviness.
3. (music) A tremulous tone produced by a peculiar pressure of the finger on a string.
4. A wavelike curve; a smooth and regular rise and fall.
5. A wavelike motion of the air; electromagnetic radiation.
6. (medicine, dated) A feeling as if of an undulatory motion about the heart.
7. (medicine, dated) The distinctive motion of the matter within an abscess on being pressed when it is ripe for opening.

Derived terms

• undulationist

Translations

References

• undulation in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Etymology

From Middle French contortion.

Noun

contortion (countable and uncountable, plural contortions)

1. The act of contorting, twisting or deforming something, especially oneself.
2. A form of acrobatic display which involves the dramatic bending and flexing of the human body.

Derived terms

• contortionist

Translations