"to quit one country, state, or region and settle in another," 1778, a back-formation from emigration, or else from Latin emigratus, past participle of emigrare "move away, depart from a place," from assimilated form of ex "out" (see ex-) + migrare "to move" (from PIE root *mei- (1) "to change, go, move"). In 19c. U.S., also "to remove from one state to another state or territory." Related: Emigrated; emigrating.
1650s, wabble, probably from Low German wabbeln "to wobble;" cognate with Old Norse vafla "hover about, totter," related to vafra "move unsteadily," from Proto-Germanic *wab- "to move back and forth," perhaps from PIE *webh- "to weave" (see waver). Form with -o- is from 1851. Related: Wobbled; wobbling. The noun is attested from 1690s.
mid-13c., shunten, "to shy, start aside or back, move suddenly," perhaps from shunen, shonen "to shun" (see shun), and altered by influence of shot or shut. The transitive meaning "to turn aside" is from late 14c.; that of "move out of the way" is from 1706. Adopted by railways by 1842, "move cars or a train from a main line to a sidetrack." Related: Shunted; shunting.
"revolve or move round a center or axis," 1794, intransitive, back-formation from rotation. The transitive sense of "cause to revolve upon an axis or support" is by 1823. Related: Rotated; rotating.
1901, "to play table tennis," from ping-pong (n.). In the figurative sense of "move or send back and forth without progress, resolution, or purpose" from 1952. Related: Ping-ponged; ping-ponging.
early 15c., receden, "to depart, go away," a sense now rare or obsolete; of things, "to move back, retreat, withdraw," from Old French receder and directly from Latin recedere "to go back, fall back; withdraw, depart, retire," from re- "back" (see re-) + cedere "to go" (from PIE root *ked- "to go, yield"). Sense of "to have a backward inclination, slope, or tendency" is by 1866. Related: Receded; receding.
1550s, "to return to a former state or place, go back," from Latin regressus "a return, retreat, a going back," noun use of past participle of regredi "to go back," from re- "back" (see re-) + gradi "to step, walk" (from PIE root *ghredh- "to walk, go").
In astronomy, "appear to move in a backward direction," by 1823. The psychological sense of "to return to an earlier stage of life" is attested from 1926. Related: Regressed; regressing.
late 14c., of planets, "appearing to move in the sky contrary to the usual direction," from Latin retrogradus "going back, moving backward," from retrogradi "move backward," from retro "backward, reverse" (see retro-) + gradi "to go, step" (from PIE root *ghredh- "to walk, go"). General sense of "tending to revert" is recorded from 1530s; that of "directed backward, in a direction contrary to the original motion" is from 1620s. .
"to walk, move about," 1620s, a back-formation from ambulation, or else from Latin ambulatus, past participle of ambulare "to walk, go about" (see amble (v.)). Related: Ambulated; ambulating.
[to sway, move backward and forward] Middle English rokken "rock (a cradle), cause to sway back and forth; rock (someone) in a cradle," from late Old English roccian "move a child gently to and fro" in a cradle, which is related to Old Norse rykkja "to pull, tear, move," Swedish rycka "to pull, pluck," Middle Dutch rucken, Old High German rucchan, German rücken "to move jerkily."
The intransitive sense of "move or sway back and forth unstably" is from late 14c. For the popular music senses, see rock (v.2). Related: Rocked; rocking.
The earliest associations of the word were with slumber, rest, security. The sense of of "sway to and fro under some impact or stress" is from late 14c., especially of vessels in the waves (1510s); hence rock the boat in the figurative sense "stir up trouble" (1914). The sense of "swing to and fro in or as in a rocking chair" is by 1795.
