The Merriam-Webster Word of the Day is undulate. Read on for what it means, how it’s used, and more.

What It Means

Undulate is a formal word that means “to move or be shaped like waves.”

// Onlookers were mesmerized by the beautiful rows of lavender undulating across the field.

UNDULATE in Context

“It’s always windy in the world of Horizon Forbidden West, the new sequel to Sony’s 2017 hit Horizon Zero Dawn. The wind takes different forms depending on where in that world you are. … And wherever you are, protagonist Aloy’s long, auburn braids undulate and toss in a lively way that probably took a team of animators months to model.” — Ben Lindbergh, The Ringer, 16 Feb. 2022

Did You Know?

Undulate and inundate (“to cover something with a flood of water”) are word cousins that flow from unda, the Latin word for “wave.” No surprise there. But would you have guessed that abound, surround, and redound are also unda offspring? While their modern definitions have nothing to do with waves or water, at some point in their early histories, they all meant “to overflow,” and caught a wave from there.

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