spiral

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈspaɪɹəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French spiral (1534, in Rabelais) and directly Medieval Latin spīrālis (“winding, coiling”),^[2][3][4] from Latin spīra (“coil, twist”) (see spire),^[2][3][5] from Ancient Greek σπεῖρα (speîra, “coil, twist, wreath”),^[2][3] perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *sper- (“to turn, wind”), though Beekes is doubtful.^[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, winding round a centre: 1551 in Barnhart and Merriam-Webster, the 1550s in Etymonline.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a continuous curve winding round a point, is from 1656, in a translation of Hobbes,^[2][6][5] and a helix from 1670.^[6] The spiral nebula is from 1846 and the spiral galaxy by 1870.^[3] Figuratively, a progressive movement upwards or downwards, as of prices, is from 1897.^[6] The verb is from 1726 (spiraled), intransitive by 1834, of aircraft by 1916, and figurative by 1922.^[3]

Timeline

• 1551 – spiral (adjective).^[2]
• 1656 – a spiral curve.^[2][6]
• 1726 – to spiral (verb).^[3]
• 1846 – spiral nebula.^[3]
• 1897 – a rising or falling spiral (figurative).^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A curve that winds around a centre at an ever-increasing or decreasing distance; a helix.
2. A continuous rise or fall, as of prices: an inflationary spiral.

Adjective

1. Winding in a continuous curve around a centre or axis.

Verb

1. To move in a spiral course.
2. To rise or fall steadily and quickly: costs spiralled.

Word family

• spirality
• spirally
• multispiral
• nonspiral
• subspiral
• unispiral
• unspiral
• spiral-bound

Related words

• aspirin
• spirea
• spire
• helix
• coil

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press