malström

Swedish

Etymology

mala +‎ ström, from ström (“stream, streaming water”) and presumably from the verb mala (“to mill, to rotate like a mill stone, to swing around, to swirl”). Same as Old Danish malestrøm, Danish malstrøm, German Mahlstrom, English maelstrom, originally from Dutch maalstroom. Alternatively the first compound is from Saterland Frisian dwalen (“to swirl”), through Dutch waal (“vortex”).

Noun

malström c

a maelstrom

Declension

Declension of malström
	Singular		Plural
	Indefinite	Definite	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	malström	malströmmen	malströmmar	malströmmarna
Genitive	malströms	malströmmens	malströmmars	malströmmarnas

References

malström in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)
malströmmen in Elof Hellquist, Svensk etymologisk ordbok (1st ed., 1922)
Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “maelstrom”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 13 July 2021.