pendulum

pen·du·lum
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UK/ˈpɛnd͡ʒʊləm/UK/ˈpɛndjʊləm/US/ˈpɛnd͡ʒələm/US/ˈpɛnd(j)ələm/

noun

A body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices such as clocks.

OriginLatin pendulus →
Less commonScrabble 13
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Meanings

nounpendulum (plural pendulums or pendula)

plural pendulums · plural pendula

  1. clocksengineeringA body suspended from a fixed support so that it swings freely back and forth under the influence of gravity, commonly used to regulate various devices such as clocks.
    1. broadlyclocksengineeringThe tendency of a situation to oscillate (between two extremes).

      The pendulum can be seen to be swinging in favour of rail, as with each issue of RAIL comes news of further intermodal service expansion.

      2021 October 20, Industry Insider, “The wheels turn slowly”, in RAIL, number 942, page 68
  2. A lamp, etc. suspended from a ceiling.
  3. A watch's guard-ring by which it is attached to a chain.

Origin

  1. Latinpendulus“hanging”
  2. Englishpendulum

Borrowed from the neuter of Latin pendulus (“hanging”).

More words from Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic نُوَاس, رَقَّاص
  • نُوَاس (nuwās)body suspended from a fixed support
  • رَقَّاص (raqqāṣ)body suspended from a fixed support
  • بَنْدُول (bandūl)body suspended from a fixed support
Basque pendulu
  • pendulubody suspended from a fixed support
Bulgarian маха́ло
  • маха́ло (mahálo)body suspended from a fixed support
Catalan pèndol
  • pèndolbody suspended from a fixed support
Chinese Mandarin 鐘擺 /钟摆, 擺 /摆
  • 鐘擺 /钟摆 (zhōngbǎi)body suspended from a fixed support
  • 擺 /摆 (bǎi)body suspended from a fixed support
  • 擺鐘 /摆钟 (bǎizhōng)body suspended from a fixed support
Czech kyvadlo
  • kyvadlobody suspended from a fixed support
Danish pendul
  • pendulbody suspended from a fixed support
Dutch slinger
  • slingerbody suspended from a fixed support
Esperanto pendolo
  • pendolobody suspended from a fixed support
Estonian pendel
  • pendelbody suspended from a fixed support
Finnish heiluri
  • heiluribody suspended from a fixed support
French pendule
  • pendulebody suspended from a fixed support
German Pendel
  • Pendelbody suspended from a fixed support
Greek εκκρεμές
  • εκκρεμές (ekkremés)body suspended from a fixed support
Hebrew מְטוּטֶלֶת
  • מְטוּטֶלֶת (metutelet)body suspended from a fixed support
Hindi लोलक, दोलक
  • लोलक (lolak)body suspended from a fixed support
  • दोलक (dolak)body suspended from a fixed support
  • लंगर (laṅgar)body suspended from a fixed support
Hungarian inga
  • ingabody suspended from a fixed support
Icelandic pendúll, dingull
  • pendúllbody suspended from a fixed support
  • dingullbody suspended from a fixed support
  • hengillbody suspended from a fixed support
  • kólfurbody suspended from a fixed support
Indonesian bandul
  • bandulbody suspended from a fixed support
Italian pendolo
  • pendolobody suspended from a fixed support
Japanese 振り子
  • 振り子 (furiko)body suspended from a fixed support
Korean 진자
  • 진자 (jinja)body suspended from a fixed support
Latin pendulum
  • pendulumbody suspended from a fixed support
Latvian svārsts
  • svārstsbody suspended from a fixed support
Lithuanian švytuoklė, svyruoklė
  • švytuoklėbody suspended from a fixed support
  • svyruoklėbody suspended from a fixed support
Malay bandul
  • bandulbody suspended from a fixed support
Māori tārere
  • tārerebody suspended from a fixed support
Norwegian Bokmål pendel
  • pendelbody suspended from a fixed support
Persian آونگ, پاندول
  • آونگ (âvang)body suspended from a fixed support
  • پاندول (pândul)body suspended from a fixed support
  • رقاصک (raqqâsak)body suspended from a fixed support
Polish wahadło
  • wahadłobody suspended from a fixed support
Portuguese pêndulo
  • pêndulobody suspended from a fixed support
Romanian pendul
  • pendulbody suspended from a fixed support
Russian ма́ятник
  • ма́ятник (májatnik)body suspended from a fixed support
Scottish Gaelic siogalam-siùbhlach
  • siogalam-siùbhlachbody suspended from a fixed support
Slovak kyvadlo
  • kyvadlobody suspended from a fixed support
Spanish péndulo
  • péndulobody suspended from a fixed support
Swedish pendel
  • pendelbody suspended from a fixed support
Thai ลูกตุ้ม
  • ลูกตุ้ม (lûuk-dtûm)body suspended from a fixed support
Turkish sarkaç, rakkas
  • sarkaçbody suspended from a fixed support
  • rakkasbody suspended from a fixed support
  • pandülbody suspended from a fixed support
Ukrainian ма́ятник, вага́дло
  • ма́ятник (májatnyk)body suspended from a fixed support
  • вага́дло (vahádlo)body suspended from a fixed support
Vietnamese quả lắc, con lắc
  • quả lắcbody suspended from a fixed support
  • con lắcbody suspended from a fixed support

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

unplumedunlumped
Cite this entry
APA

pendulum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pendulum

MLA

“pendulum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pendulum. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pendulum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pendulum.

Source: pendulum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.