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Pivot vs Rotate - What's the difference?

pivot | rotate |

In intransitive terms the difference between pivot and rotate

is that pivot is to turn on an exact spot while rotate is to advance through a sequence; to take turns.

As a noun pivot

is a thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.

As an adjective rotate is

having the parts spreading out like a wheel; wheel-shaped.

pivot

English

(wikipedia pivot)

Noun

(en noun)
  • A thing on which something turns; specifically a metal pointed pin or short shaft in machinery, such as the end of an axle or spindle.
  • Something or someone having a paramount significance in a certain situation.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1905, author=
    • , title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“The story of this adoption is, of course, the pivot round which all the circumstances of the mysterious tragedy revolved. Mrs. Yule had an only son, namely, William, to whom she was passionately attached ; but, like many a fond mother, she had the desire of mapping out that son's future entirely according to her own ideas. […]”}}
  • Act of turning on one foot.
  • * 2012 , Banking reform: Sticking together , The Economist, 18th August issue
    • Sandy Weill was the man who stitched Citigroup together in the 1990s and in the process helped bury the Glass-Steagall act, a Depression-era law separating retail and investment banking. Last month he performed a perfect pivot : he now wants regulators to undo his previous work.
  • (military) The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place while the company or line moves around him in wheeling.
  • (roller derby) A player with responsibility for co-ordinating their team in a particular jam.
  • (computing) An element of a set to be sorted that is chosen as a midpoint, so as to divide the other elements into two groups to be dealt with recursively.

    • Derived terms

    * pivot bridge * pivot gun * pivot tooth

    See also

    * fulcrum * pivotal

    Verb

  • To turn on an exact spot.

    • rotate

    English

    Verb

    (rotat)
  • to spin, turn, or revolve.
    • He rotated in his chair to face me.
  • to advance through a sequence; to take turns.
    • The nurses' shifts rotate each week.
  • (of aircraft) to lift the nose, just prior to takeoff.
    • The aircraft rotates at sixty knots.
  • to spin, turn, or revolve something.
    • Rotate the dial to the left.
  • to advance something through a sequence.
  • to replace older materials or to place older materials in front of newer ones so that older ones get used first.
    • The supermarket rotates the stock daily so that old foods don't sit around.
  • (of crops) to grow or plant in a certain order.

    • Synonyms

    * (to turn) revolve * (to make turn) circumvolve

    Derived terms

    * (l) * (l)

    Related terms

    * (l)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Having the parts spreading out like a wheel; wheel-shaped.
    • a rotate''' spicule or scale; a '''rotate corolla
    English ergative verbs ----