Post by t-bob on Jun 14, 2019 10:03:52 GMT -5
verb (used without object)
1. to move with a sinuous or wavelike motion; display a smooth rising-and-falling or side-to-side alternation of movement: The flag undulates in the breeze.
verb (used with object),
1. to cause to move in waves.
adjective
1. having a wavelike or rippled form, surface, edge, etc.; wavy.
Quotes
At the end, the national anthem is played, and our flag undulates all day on its very tall mast and unfurls as it ascends majestically. -- José de la Luz Sáenz (1888–1953), The World War I Diary of José de la Luz Sáenz, translated by Emilio Zamora with Ben Maya, 2014 There is a strange, dull glow to the east, from the sea; it undulates softly, rotates, like a net that has captured nothing. -- Lori Baker, The Glass Ocean, 2013
Origin
Something that undulates, as a flag or rhythm, moves side to side or rises and falls like a wave. Indeed, its origin is Latin unda “wave,” via undulātus “waved, wavy,” composed of -ula, a diminutive suffix, and -ātus, a past participle suffix. Unda also yields English abound, abundant, inundate, redound, redundant, and surround. Latin unda in turn comes from the Proto-Indo-European root wed- “water, wet,” ultimate source of the names of two substances that may cause some to undulate, as it were, on their feet: vodka (via Russian) and whiskey (Irish or Scots Gaelic). Best to stay hydrated, another derivative of wed-, via Greek hýdōr “water.” Undulate entered English in the 1600s
