# reptation

> English word · Noun

## Definitions
1. A creeping movement.
2. A creeping thermal motion of entangled linear polymers
3. The motion of one plane figure around another, so that the longest diameter of one shall come into line with the shortest of the other.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁p-der.
Proto-Italic *rēpō
Latin rēpō
Latin rēptō
Proto-Indo-European *-tisder.
Proto-Italic *-tjō
Latin -tiō
Latin rēptātiōlbor.
English reptation
Learned borrowing from Latin rēptātiō.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/reptation