whorl
English edit
Etymology edit
From alteration of whirl (verb).
Pronunciation edit
- enPR: wôrl, wûrl, IPA(key): /(h)wɔː(ɹ)l/, /(h)wɜː(ɹ)l/
Audio (Southern England) (file) Audio (Southern England) (file) - Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)l, -ɜː(ɹ)l
- Homophone: whirl
Noun edit
whorl (plural whorls)
- Each circle, volution or equivalent in a pattern of concentric circles, ovals, arcs, or a spiral.
- (botany) A circle of three or more leaves, flowers, or other organs, about the same part or joint of a stem.
- (zoology) A volution, or turn, of the spire of a univalve shell.
- (anatomy) Any volution, as for example in the human ear or fingerprint.
- A flywheel, a weight attached to a spindle. [from c. 1460]
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
pattern of concentric circles.
circle of three or more leaves, flowers, or other organs.
volution, or turn, of the spire of a univalve shell.
|
weight attached to a spindle
|
Verb edit
whorl (third-person singular simple present whorls, present participle whorling, simple past and past participle whorled)
- (intransitive) To form a pattern of concentric circles.
- 2008 February 12, Jennifer Dunning, “Modern Style, Old-Fashioned Virtues”, in New York Times[1]:
- “Waves Against the Sand,” to music by Martinu, which opened the program, filled the stage space with whorling patterns of dancers surging with the gentle but ceaseless momentum of the sea.
References edit
- “whorl”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “whorl”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- whorl, Glossary of Terms, American Rhododendron Society