eddy

See also: Eddy

English

WOTD – 9 April 2010

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛd.i/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛdi

Etymology 1

From Middle English eddy, from Old English edēa, from ed- (“turning, back, reverse”) + ēa (“water”), equivalent to ed- +‎ ea. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁é, and, consequently, cognate with Latin et. Related also to Danish ide (“eddy”), Swedish eda (“eddy”), Norwegian ida, ia, ea (“eddy”), Icelandic iða (“eddy”).

Noun

eddy (plural eddies)

1. A current of air or water running back, or in an opposite direction to the main current.
   • 1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate:

     In the bow old Dobbs fought the stream cunningly, twisting the nose into eddies and backwaters, taking advantage when he could of set of current, and when he could not, paddling doggedly, not so powerfully, perhaps, as his partner, but with equal steadiness.

2. A circular current; a whirlpool.
   • 1667, John Dryden, Annus Mirabilis: The Year of Wonders, 1666. […], London: […] Henry Herringman, […], →OCLC, (please specify the stanza number):

     And smiling eddies dimpled on the main.

   • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act I, scene ii, page 6:

     Wheel through the air, in circling eddies play.

   • 1915, Virginia Woolf, The Voyage Out, London: The Hogarth Press, published 1949, →OCLC:

     It was as though the room were instantly flooded with water. After a moment’s hesitation first one couple, then another, leapt into mid-stream, and went round and round in the eddies.

Derived terms

• eddy current
• eddy kinetic energy
• eddy root

 

Related terms

English terms prefixed with ed-

Translations

air or water running in an opposite direction to the main current

• Afrikaans: warrelstrome
• Arabic: دُوَّامَة f (duwwāma)
• Bulgarian: вихър (bg) m (vihǎr), вихрушка (bg) f (vihruška)
• Catalan: remolí (ca) m, gorga f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 渦流／涡流 (zh) (wōliú)

• Danish: hvirvel c, strømhvirvel c
• Dutch: draaikolk (nl), werveling (nl)
• Finnish: akanvirta (fi)
• French: contre-courant (fr), remous (fr)
• Galician: remuíño (gl) m
• German: Wirbel (de) m
• Hebrew: זֶרֶם עַרְבֹּלֶת m (zérem arbólet)
• Hungarian: bukószél (hu) (air)
• Irish: saobhshruth m
• Italian: vortice (it) m, gorgo (it) m, mulinello (it) m, controcorrente (it) f
• Japanese: 渦流 (かりゅう, karyū), 渦 (ja) (うず, uzu)
• Korean: 회오리 (hoe'ori), 소용돌이 (ko) (soyongdori)
• Maori: okori, mumuhau (wind), haupongi (of the wind), kōripo (of water), riporipo (of water), kōmingomingo (of water)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: bakevje (no) m or f

• Occitan: remolin (oc)
• Polish: przeciwprąd m
• Portuguese: vórtice (pt) m, remoinho (pt) m
• Romanian: contracurent (ro) m, bulboană (ro), volbură (ro) f, vârtej (ro) n
• Russian: завихре́ние (ru) n (zavixrénije), вихрь (ru) m (vixrʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: vrtlog (sh) m, vir (sh) m, protustruja f
• Spanish: contracorriente f, revesa (es) f, remolino (es) m
• Swedish: eda (sv) c (dialectal), strömvirvel c
• Tagalog: uliuli

whirlpool

• French: tourbillon (fr) m
• Hebrew: עַרְבֹּלֶת f (arbólet)
• Polish: wir (pl) m

See also

• countercurrent
• dust devil

Verb

eddy (third-person singular simple present eddies, present participle eddying, simple past and past participle eddied)

1. (intransitive) To form an eddy; to move in, or as if in, an eddy; to move in a circle.
   • 1815, William Wordsworth, The Kitten and falling Leaves:

     Eddying round and round they sink.

   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, “Chapter 25”, in Babbitt:

     Neither in his voiceless cabin, fragrant with planks of new-cut pine, nor along the lake, nor in the sunset clouds which presently eddied behind the lavender-misted mountains, could Babbitt find the spirit of Paul as a reassuring presence.

   • 2023, Clayton Collins, quoted in: Clayton Collins, Jingnan Peng, Right to arms, right to peace? Our writer explored a balance., in: The Christian Science Monitor, December 1, 2023

     It’s a uniquely American news story, one that eddies until it surges, and then, after it has mostly receded from view, surges again.

Etymology 2

Clipping of edible.

Noun

eddy (plural eddies or eddys)

1. (slang) A marijuana edible.
   • 2022 April 30, Chris Distefano (quoted), Angela Barbuti, “NYC comic Chris Distefano laughs off woke culture in Netflix special”, in New York Post‎^[1]:

     I never really was into weed until recently. On my "Chrissy Chaos" podcast on Patreon, I do a segment every Friday called the "Chris and Eddy Show" 'cause I call edibles "eddys,' so I take an eddy and I do a show.

   • 2022 June 25, Amelia Williams, “America's yummiest THC gummies of summer 2022”, in Leafly‎^[2]:

     These eddies are made with both fruits and veggies, and weed of course, with cozy flavor profiles like honey lemon and apple pie.

   • 2022 August 26, Nadir Pearson, “The ultimate stoner’s guide to weed at festivals”, in Leafly‎^[3]:

     If you do end up bringing a couple eddies with you, try removing them from any packaging and passing them off as regular candy. Think ahead of time what dosage of edibles you’d like to bring and how high you’re trying to get.

Anagrams

• dyde, dyed

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From French adieu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈædi/

Interjection

eddy

1. Nonstandard spelling of äddi.

Welsh

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈɛðɨ̞/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈeːði/, /ˈɛði/

Verb

eddy

1. Obsolete form of addawa (“(s/he) promises”).