Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The act of flying; flight.
- n. The ability to fly.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The act of flying; the power of flight, or its habitual exercise; flight; volation.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. rare The act of flying; flight.
Etymologies
- From Medieval Latin volitātio, from Latin volitāre. (Wiktionary)
Examples
“John Wilkins (1614-1672), one of the founders of the Royal Society and bishop of Chester … in 1640 discussed the possibility of reaching the moon by volitation.”
“However visionary this idea might be, he had collected innumerable and extremely interesting data, having examined the anatomical structure of almost every winged thing in the creation, and compared the weight of the body with the area of the wings when expanded in the act of volitation as well as the natural habits of birds, insects, bats, and fishes, with reference to their powers of flying and duration of flight.”
“A chimney-sweeper observed to a scientific friend that probably the density of the atmosphere might prevent the intended volitation; and Popanilla, who, having read almost as many pamphlets as the observer, now felt quite at home, exceedingly admired the observation.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘volitation’.
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phrontistery-v
from phrontistery.info
vulviform, vulvar, vulturine, vulpine, vulpicide, vulpecular, vulnerose, vulsella, vulnerary, vulnerate, vulgus, vulgo and 396 more...
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Ada, or Ardor
I only started dog-earing 2/5 of the way through, so I'll have to re-read at some point in order to complete this list.
fatidic, herbarium, volitation, plafond, pseudopodal, hongry, dolent, dackel, fubsy, hurdies, palpebral, twayblade and 98 more...
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summer words 2009
how many words can I make mine this summer?
largess, hoyden, catholic, fornicatress, quean, slattern, bildungsroman, sybaritic, descresent, nodus, frittle, callipygian and 529 more...
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Wordie/Wordnik Curio Cabinet
Oddments culled from my "main" lists that belong in a display cabinet of their own, plus sundry other curiosities. :-)
zeugma, ziggurat, xiphoid, xeric, whizgigging, whangdoodle, viviparous, vivific, vinolent, verjuice, vellicate, velleity and 1193 more...
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Papageno's Words, Pt. I
hobbledehoy, absquatulate, chthonic, prolix, ululate, internecine, verisimilitude, animadversion, concupiscence, vertiginous, cucullate, lucubrate and 1554 more...
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Rocketeer's Words
defenestrate, shutterbug, antique, periscope, dogma, peculiar, eccentric, banana, apple, pear, cherry, photograph and 189 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for volitation.
rolig Typical Nabokov. As one of my Russian teachers once said to me, if you asked Nabokov to touch his nose, he would comply by hooking his elbow around the back of his head. He could never say no to an arcane archaism. Aug 19, 2008
bilby Yeck, what a sentence. Aug 19, 2008
yarb ...puzzling out the exaggerated but, on the whole, complimentary allusions to his father's volitations and loves in another life in Lermontov's diamond-faceted tetrameters.
- Nabokov, Ada, or Ardor. May 17, 2008