Osage orange
(O"sage or"ange) (Bot.) An ornamental tree of the genus Maclura closely allied to the
mulberry (Morus); also, its fruit. The tree was first found in the country of the Osage Indians, and bears
a hard and inedible fruit of an orangelike appearance. See Bois d'arc.
Osages
(O*sa"ges) n. pl.; sing. Osage (Ethnol.) A tribe of southern Sioux Indians, now living in the
Indian Territory.
Osanne
(O*san"ne) n. Hosanna. [Obs.] Chaucer.
Osar
(O"sar) n. pl. (Geol.) See 3d Os.
Oscan
(Os"can) a. Of or pertaining to the Osci, a primitive people of Campania, a province of ancient
Italy. — n. The language of the Osci.
Oscillancy
(Os"cil*lan*cy) n. The state of oscillating; a seesaw kind of motion. [R.]
Oscillaria
(||Os`cil*la"ri*a) n. [NL., fr. L. oscillare to swing.] (Bot.) A genus of dark green, or purplish
black, filamentous, fresh-water algæ, the threads of which have an automatic swaying or crawling motion.
Called also Oscillatoria.
Oscillate
(Os"cil*late) v. i. [imp. & p. p. Oscillated ; p. pr. & vb. n. Oscillating ] [L. oscillare to
swing, fr. oscillum a swing, a little mask or puppet made to be hung from trees and swing in the wind,
prob. orig., a little mouth, a dim. from os mouth. See Oral, and cf. Osculate.]
1. To move backward and forward; to vibrate like a pendulum; to swing; to sway.
2. To vary or fluctuate between fixed limits; to act or move in a fickle or fluctuating manner; to change
repeatedly, back and forth.
The amount of superior families oscillates rather than changes, that is, it fluctuates within fixed limits.
Dc Quincey.
Oscillating
(Os"cil*la`ting) a. That oscillates; vibrating; swinging.
Oscillating engine, a steam engine whose cylinder oscillates on trunnions instead of being permanently
fixed in a perpendicular or other direction. Weale.
Oscillation
(Os`cil*la"tion) n. [L. oscillatio a swinging.]
1. The act of oscillating; a swinging or moving backward and forward, like a pendulum; vibration.
2. Fluctuation; variation; change back and forth.
His mind oscillated, undoubtedly; but the extreme points of the oscillation were not very remote.
Macaulay. Axis of oscillation, Center of oscillation. See under Axis, and Center.
Oscillative
(Os"cil*la*tive) a. Tending to oscillate; vibratory. [R.] I. Taylor.
Oscillatoria
(||Os`cil*la*to"ri*a) n. pl. [NL. See Oscillatory.] (Bot.) Same as Oscillaria.
Oscillatory
(Os"cil*la*to*ry) a. [Cf. F. oscillatoire. See Oscillate.] Moving, or characterized by motion,
backward and forward like a pendulum; swinging; oscillating; vibratory; as, oscillatory motion.
Oscine
(Os"cine) a. (Zoöl.) Relating to the Oscines.
