whirlwind

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English whirlwind, also whirlewind and qwhirlewinde,^[2] formed from Middle English whirlen (“to whirl”) + wind (“wind”),^[3][4][2][5] probably modelled on Old Norse hvirfilvindr,^[5][4][6][2] from hvirfill (“circle, ring”) and vindr (“wind”).^[7] The Shorter Oxford and Dictionary.com take it directly from the Old Norse word.^[7][8] The verb whirl is probably from Old Norse hvirfla (“to go round, spin”).^[4][5] The OED compares Swedish virvelvind, and says the Old Norse compound is the source of Dutch wervelwind and German Wirbelwind;^[5][8] the MED compares Middle Dutch wervelwint.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A whirling wind, an eddy or vortex of air: before 1340, in Rolle's Psalter.^[5][2] Etymonline dates it to the mid-14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

A figurative use, for something rushing on like a whirlwind or for a violent and destructive force, appears in the early Wycliffite Bible of about 1384,^[5][4] and the MED records it for trouble and affliction and for an excessive show of feeling.^[2] Johnson (1755) defined the word as "a stormy wind moving circularly", quoting Hamlet's "whirlwind of your passion".^[9] Used before another noun, it has meant violent or impetuous since 1614,^[10][7] and today very rapid or hasty, as in a whirlwind romance.^[11][12][7] The verb, to rush like a whirlwind, is first recorded in a letter of Mark Twain in 1894.^[5][10]

Timeline

• before 1340 – a whirling wind, a vortex of air.^[5][2]
• c. 1384 – figurative, a violent or rushing force, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[5][4]
• 1614 – attributive, violent or impetuous.^[10]
• 1894 – verb, to rush like a whirlwind.^[5][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A column of air spinning rapidly around a roughly vertical axis of low pressure as it moves over land or sea; a small tornado or dust devil.^[11][3][12]
2. Something that moves or happens with violent speed or confusion: a whirlwind of rumours.^[11][12][5]
3. A very energetic or impetuous person.^[11][12]
4. (sow the wind and) reap the whirlwind: to suffer serious consequences of one's own actions, with an allusion to the Book of Hosea.^[12]

Adjective

1. Very rapid or sudden: a whirlwind tour of the capitals.^[11][12][7]

Verb

1. To move like a whirlwind.^[3][5]

Related words

• whirl
• wind
• whorl
• whirlpool

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
11. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
12. ^ a b c d e f Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press