undulate

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The Word of the Day for April 8 is: 

undulate   \UN-juh-layt\   verb
     1 : to form or move in waves : fluctuate 
    *2 : to rise and fall in volume, pitch, or cadence 
     3 : to present a wavy appearance 

Example sentence:
     The opera singer's voice undulated as she expressed the grief and despair 
of the song.

Did you know?
     "Undulate" and "inundate" are word cousins, sharing "unda," the Latin word 
for "wave," as their common ancestor. No surprise there. But would you have 
guessed that "abound," "surround," and "redound" are also "unda" offspring? The 
connection between "unda" and these words is easier to see when you learn that 
at some point in their early histories each of them essentially had the meaning 
of "to overflow," just as "inundate" (which can mean either "to overflow" or 
"to overwhelm") does. Today that connection is obscured, since the "overflow" 
senses of the words are, well, down the drain. 

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. 





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