Rotate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Rotated; p. pr. & vb. n. Rotating.]
1. To turn, as a wheel, round an axis; to revolve.
2. To perform any act, function, or operation in turn, to hold office in turn; as, to rotate in office.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Rotate, a.
Having the parts spreading out like a wheel; wheel-shaped; as, a rotate spicule or scale; a rotate corolla, i.e., a monopetalous corolla with a flattish border, and no tube or a very short one.
Rotate, v. i.
1. To cause to turn round or revolve, as a wheel around an axle.
2. To cause to succeed in turn; esp., to cause to succeed some one, or to be succeeded by some one, in office. [Colloq.] "Both, after a brief service, were rotated out of office." Harper's Mag.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for rotate; he lists it under revolve.
Where he writes about it:
To rotate is said of a body that has a circular motion about its own center or axis; to revolve is said of a body that moves in a curving path, as a circle or an ellipse, about a center outside of itself, so as to return periodically to the same relative position that it held at some previous time. — from revolve
A revolving body may also either rotate or roll at the same time; the earth revolves around the sun, and rotates on its own axis; in popular usage, the earth is often said to revolve about its own axis, or to have a daily "revolution," but rotate and "rotation" are the more accurate terms. — from revolve
Turn is a conversational and popular word often used vaguely for rotate or revolve, or for any motion about a fixed point, especially for a motion less than a complete "rotation" or "revolution;" a man turns his head or turns on his heel; the gate turns on its hinges. — from revolve