Turned or spun around a fixed point or axis, or took turns in a sequence or position.
From Latin 'rotatus,' past participle of 'rotare,' related to 'rota' (wheel). The word entered English through scientific and mechanical terminology, referring to circular motion.
The same Latin root for 'rotate' gives us 'rota' (a schedule of rotations), 'rotund' (round-shaped), and 'rotisserie'—showing how one root concept, the wheel, spawned our entire vocabulary for things that are round and turn in circles.
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