maelstrom English · revision 1393

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈmeɪl.stɹəm/ ''(UK)''; /ˈmeɪl.stɹəm/, /ˈmæl.stɹəm/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|nl|Maelstrom]], an obsolete Dutch spelling (now ''maalstroom''),^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) literally “grinding stream”,^(Etymonline) from ''malen'' “to grind” and ''stroom'' “stream”.^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) Barnhart and Etymonline say it came into English partly through Danish ''malstrøm''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[meal]] and [[stream]].^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The name of a famous whirlpool off the north-west coast of Norway, as ''Malestrand'' (about 1560).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The Norwegian whirlpool was believed to suck in and destroy any ship that came near.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The figurative sense of turbulent confusion appeared in 1831,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) and the use for any great whirlpool was popularized about 1841, the year of Edgar Allan Poe's ''A Descent into the Maelström''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * about 1560 – ''Malestrand'', the Norwegian whirlpool.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1595 – used by Mercator on maps.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1682 – ''Male Stream''.^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1701 – ''Maelstrom''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1831 – figurative, turbulent confusion.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1841 – any great whirlpool.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large, powerful [[whirlpool]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A violent or turbulent situation; [[turmoil]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House gives ''tumult'', ''pandemonium'' and ''bedlam'' as synonyms of the figurative sense.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}