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plural librates
(now historical) A piece of land having a value of one pound per year.
third-person singular simple present librates, present participle librating, simple past and past participle librated
(intransitive) To oscillate (like the beam of a balance). quotations examples
The currently observed orbital resonances at the 2:1 mean motion commensurabilities involving Io-Europa and Europa-Ganymede are such that the resonance variables θ 1 = λ 1 − 2 λ 2 + ω 1 {\displaystyle \theta _{1}=\lambda _{1}-2\lambda _{2}+\omega _{1}} and θ 3 = λ 2 − 2 λ 3 + ω 2 {\displaystyle \theta _{3}=\lambda _{2}-2\lambda _{3}+\omega _{2}} librate about 0° and θ 2 = λ 1 − 2 λ 2 + ω 2 {\displaystyle \theta _{2}=\lambda _{1}-2\lambda _{2}+\omega _{2}} librates about 180°, all with small amplitude.
2002 October 18, S. J. Peale, Man Hoi Lee, “A Primordial Origin of the Laplace Relation Among the Galilean Satellites”, in Science, volume 298, number 5593, page 594
Their parts all librate on too nice a beam.
1796, William Cliffton, The Group
(intransitive) To be poised; to balance oneself. quotations examples
Her playful Sea-horse […] His watery way with waving volutes wins, / Or listening librates on unmoving fins.
1791, Erasmus Darwin, The Economy of Vegetation, J. Johnson, page 138
(obsolete, transitive) To place in a balance; to weigh.