perturb

From Middle English perturben, borrowed from Old French perturber, from Latin perturbare (“throw into confusion, confuse, disorder, disturb”), from per (“through”) + turbare (“to confuse, disturb”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /pɚˈtɝb/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)b

perturb (third-person singular simple present perturbs, present participle perturbing, simple past and past participle perturbed)

1. To disturb; to bother or unsettle.
2. (physics) To slightly modify the motion of an object.
3. (astronomy) To modify the motion of a body by exerting a gravitational force.
4. (mathematics) To modify slightly, such as an equation or value.

• perturbation
• perturbative
• perturbed
• perturbedly

• perturb in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• perturb in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• perturb at OneLook Dictionary Search