Nutate is a verb that means to nod the head.

Our word of the day comes from the Latin word nutare (new TAR ay) which means ‘to nod.’

In a general sense, it can refer to anything moving back and forth from a fixed point, but it’s most commonly used to indicate the nodding of a person’s head. Here’s an example:

When the waiter asked if I wanted fried scorpions with my meal, I was so taken aback, all I could do was nutate nervously. In the end, I’m glad I nodded ‘yes’ to this awkward question. It turns out fried scorpion meat isn’t half bad.