What is the difference between fluctuation and volatility?
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I believe that volatility is fluctuation per unit time. The time unit used being specific to what you’re analyzing.
Can you specify the context in which they’re used? I don’t think I’ll know the answer, but I want to look it up to find out for myself.
I’ll use stock price as an example, because it’s something concretely measurable that varies with time. A fluctuation often refers to the behavior at a specific point; say today it’s much higher than yesterday. If there isn’t an obvious reason, you might call that a fluctuation, but is it a “normal” fluctuation or no? That depends on how volatile the stock is. So volatility is more a statement about the behavior in general.
Something with low volatility has small fluctuations most of the time, and large fluctuations might be noteworthy because they’re unusual. Something with high volatility would have large fluctuations more often, or most of the time.
They are somewhat synonymous if you’re talking about the behavior in general. To say something has “large fluctuations” means essentially the same thing as “high volatility” — though depending on the context there might be a precise or pedantic difference. What’s more likely to be confusing (and perhaps wrong) is to mix them the other way, and say that a particular fluctuation indicates anything about the general volatility.
I’d say there really isn’t a difference and could be used interchangeably. However, volatility is quantifiable and has a specific mathematical definition. People imagine different things when hearing the term fluctuation. In a professional or scientific context nobody will ever use the term fluctuation.
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