rotation

rotation, turn, shift

noun ro-tah-SYOHN Rare

Origin: Latin rotatio, from rotare (to wheel)

Also means

schedule of shifts (work)

Usage Note

Rotation covers both physical turning and organisational cycling: wheels rotate, but so do staff on rotation d'équipes (shift rotation). In agriculture, rotation des cultures (crop rotation) is a standard compound. The verb form is tourner for motion but effectuer une rotation in technical or formal registers.

Examples

"La rotation de la Terre dure vingt-quatre heures."

Natural Translation

The Earth's rotation takes twenty-four hours.

Related Words

Explore French by topic

FrenchNow

Aller + Infinitive: The Easy French Future

Form the French near future in seconds: conjugate aller in the present and add an infinitive. Learn futur proche rules, negation, pronouns, and when to use it.

June 4, 2026 6 min read

FrenchNow

Faire in French: To Make, To Do, and More

Faire in French means more than make and do: master faire vs rendre, weather and sports idioms, the causative, and the mistakes English speakers make.

June 4, 2026 6 min read

FrenchNow

En, Au, Aux: French Prepositions for Countries

Use en for feminine countries, au for masculine, aux for plural, and à for cities. Full French preposition rule for countries, with a lookup table and traps.

June 4, 2026 5 min read

FrenchNow

French Liaison Rules: When to Link Words (and Not To)

French liaison links a silent final consonant to the next vowel. Learn the obligatory, forbidden, and optional rules, plus the s→z and d→t sound shifts.

June 4, 2026 5 min read