precession

noun

the act of preceding in time or order or rank (as in a ceremony)

the motion of a spinning body (as a top) in which it wobbles so that the axis of rotation sweeps out a cone

Roots

praepre- · Latin · before, ahead cederecess- · Latin · to go, move io-ion · Latin · act of

Synonyms & related words for precession

Find synonyms, related words, and the definition of precession. Dendril is a free visual thesaurus that shows them on an interactive map where stronger matches sit closer to the center — no signup, no ads.

Words related to precession

Explore words related to precession — words associated with it, words that go with it, and its nearest matches in meaning. Related words include precessional, precess, nutational, nutation, precedency, ecliptic, evection, corotational. Click any word to make it the center of the map and keep exploring the web of connections.

Where does precession come from?

The word precession breaks down into 3 roots of Latin origin: pre-, from Latin prae (“before, ahead”); cess, from Latin cedere (“to go, move”); and -ion, from Latin io (“act of”). Explore each root to see other English words built from the same source.