Dictionary

pivot en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɪv.ət/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, UK)
• /ˈpɪv.ɪt/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, UK)
• /ˈpɪv.ɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (New-Jersey, US) audio
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English pevet, *pivot, from Old French pivot (“hinge pin, pivot”) (12th c.), possibly from Latin pūgiō.

Meanings

1. 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.
   • The weight of the body and the traction and braking forces are taken by the conventional dished bogie centre pivot with phosphor-bronze liner; this type of centre pivot facilitates passage over marshalling yard humps. 1962 December, “The B.R. standard diesel-electric Type 1 locomotive”, in Modern Railways, page 382:
2. (broadly, figuratively) Something or someone having a paramount significance in a certain situation.
   • “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.[…]” 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
   • For Ron Shah, founder of Bizly, a new company that helps hotels book unused meeting rooms, his pivot began with disaster: the day he found his Manhattan office flooded, his conference room under three inches of water. […] Choosing to buy and to lead Spark, he said, “has been one of the greatest pivots I’ve made in life, allowing me to do what I do well.” 2017 December 6, Caitlin Kelly, “For Entrepreneurs, a Tough Moment: The Pivot”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2022:
   • 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. 2012 August 18, “Banking reform: Sticking together”, in The Economist, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2023, issue:
3. Act of turning on one foot.
4. The officer or soldier who simply turns in his place while the company or line moves around him in wheeling.
5. (qualifier:roller derby) A player with responsibility for co-ordinating their team in a particular jam.
6. 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.
7. A pivot table.
8. Any of a row of captioned elements used to navigate to subpages, rather like tabs.
9. An element of a matrix that is used as a focus for row operations, such as dividing the row by the pivot, or adding multiples of the row to other rows making all other values in the pivot column 0.
10. A pivotal quantity.
11. (Canadian) A quarterback.
12. A circle runner.
13. (US) A shift during a general election in a political candidate's messaging to reflect plans and values more moderate than those advocated during the primary.

Forms

Deriveds

emotional pivot · pivot pin · pivot man · pivot operation · pivot gearing · pivotless · pivotlike · pivot bridge · pivot gun · pivot point · pivot tooth

Relateds

pivotal · fulcrum

Translations (83)

cmn 樞軸 /枢轴 (that on which something turns) · uk шпень (that on which something turns) · ru шпинь (that on which something turns) · fr pivotement (act of turning on one foot) · fi tappi (that on which something turns) · fr pivot (that on which something turns) · pl obrót na pięcie (act of turning on one foot) · de Angelzapfen (that on which something turns) · hy առանցք (something having a paramount significance) · ja 枢 (that on which something turns) · za cotsim (that on which something turns) · gl pivote (that on which something turns) · ga maighdeog (that on which something turns) · ota قطب (that on which something turns) · sh stožer (that on which something turns) · ca piu (something having a paramount significance) · gl pivote (something having a paramount significance) · mk стожер (that on which something turns) · grc κνώδαξ (that on which something turns) · cs střed otáčení (that on which something turns) · sh osovina (that on which something turns) · sv kärna (something having a paramount significance) · ms pangsi (that on which something turns) · de Drehpunkt (that on which something turns) · bg главна точка (something having a paramount significance) · sv svängtapp (that on which something turns) · sv medelpunkt (something having a paramount significance) · sv vändning (act of turning on one foot) · cs pilíř (something having a paramount significance) · ro pivotări (act of turning on one foot) · ota قازیق (that on which something turns) · it fulcro (that on which something turns) · ro pivotare (act of turning on one foot) · cmn 樞 /枢 (that on which something turns) · ota ایك (that on which something turns) · pt pivô (that on which something turns) · cmn 樞紐 /枢纽 (something having a paramount significance) · bg център (something having a paramount significance) · ru ось (that on which something turns) · uk стри́жень (that on which something turns) · ru центр враще́ния (that on which something turns) · id pangsi (that on which something turns) · cmn 樞紐 /枢纽 (that on which something turns) · grc στρόφιγξ (that on which something turns) · ru шпень (that on which something turns) · ru ключево́й моме́нт (something having a paramount significance) · ja ピボット (that on which something turns) · fi sarana (that on which something turns) · sv kärnpunkt (something having a paramount significance) · sv vändpunkt (something having a paramount significance) · bg пивотаж (act of turning on one foot) · de Angelpunkt (that on which something turns) · it fulcro (something having a paramount significance) · ru штырь (that on which something turns) · ca piu (that on which something turns) · pl rdzeń (that on which something turns) · grc θαιρός (that on which something turns) · be стрыжэ́нь (that on which something turns) · ko 피벗 (that on which something turns) · es perno (that on which something turns) · es pivote (that on which something turns) · de Angelpunkt (something having a paramount significance) · pl trzpień (that on which something turns) · hy առանցք (that on which something turns) · sv vridning (act of turning on one foot) · pl sworzeń (that on which something turns) · he צִיר (that on which something turns) · ro pivot (that on which something turns) · grc γίγγλυμος (that on which something turns) · pl sedno (something having a paramount significance) · cs střed (that on which something turns) · pt pivô (something having a paramount significance) · za cotsim (something having a paramount significance) · et telg (that on which something turns) · ru гла́вный пункт (something having a paramount significance) · bg ос (that on which something turns) · es pívot (something having a paramount significance) · de Zapfen (that on which something turns) · la cnodax (that on which something turns) · be шпяня́ (that on which something turns) · ru сте́ржень (that on which something turns) · ca pivot (that on which something turns) · it perno (that on which something turns)

pivot en · VERB

Pronunciation

• /ˈpɪv.ət/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, UK)
• /ˈpɪv.ɪt/ (Australia, Canada, General-American, UK)
• /ˈpɪv.ɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (New-Jersey, US) audio
• (US) audio

Etymology

From Middle English pevet, *pivot, from Old French pivot (“hinge pin, pivot”) (12th c.), possibly from Latin pūgiō.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To turn on an exact spot.
2. (slang) To make a sudden or swift change in strategy, policy, etc. ▸ To change the direction of a business, usually in response to changes in the market.
   • It was a fairly common strategy for startups in our space, but we were pivoting so frequently that it didn't quite work for us—if Nick found someone on Monday, by Friday we'd usually pivoted away from that sector so that it made no longer sense, and the advisor share paperwork we'd asked the lawyers to draw up would be left unfiled. 2020, Wendy Liu, Abolish Silicon Valley:
   • Mr. Shah’s new business has signed up 25 New York City hotels and raised $1.5 million from angel investors and $3 million from a seed round. Yet three months into his new project, he has had to pivot again, realizing that his best customers are large businesses, not individuals. 2017 December 6, Caitlin Kelly, “For Entrepreneurs, a Tough Moment: The Pivot”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 30 Jun 2022:
   • “Entrepreneurs usually have some inkling about a problem they can solve,” he said. “But typically they’re not exactly right. So if you survive long enough, you pivot and pivot and pivot and find what sticks.” 2020 January 10, Paul Sullivan, “The Secret of Their Success: It’s Not About the Money”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2021:
3. (US) To make a sudden or swift change in strategy, policy, etc. ▸ To shift a political candidate's messaging during a general election to reflect plans and values more moderate than those advocated during the primary.

Forms

Deriveds

stivot · pivotable · pivotman · pivotability · unpivot · repivot

Translations (18)

mi kaurori (to turn on an exact spot) · et pöörlema (to turn on an exact spot) · pt girar (to turn on an exact spot) · pl obrócić się (to turn on an exact spot) · fi kääntyä (to turn on an exact spot) · bg пивотирам (to turn on an exact spot) · mi kauhuri (to turn on an exact spot) · tr dönmek (to turn on an exact spot) · ru враща́ться (to turn on an exact spot) · fr pivoter (to turn on an exact spot) · mi taka (to turn on an exact spot) · pl obracać się (to turn on an exact spot) · de sich drehen (to turn on an exact spot) · ru верте́ться (to turn on an exact spot) · ru vertétʹsja/vraščátʹsja vokrúg svojéj osí (to turn on an exact spot) · it imperniare (to turn on an exact spot) · ca pivotar (to turn on an exact spot) · es pivotar (to turn on an exact spot)