VORTEX

whirlpool, vortex, maelstrom

(noun) a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides)

whirl, swirl, vortex, convolution

(noun) the shape of something rotating rapidly

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

vortex (plural vortexes or vortices)

A whirlwind, whirlpool, or similarly moving matter in the form of a spiral or column.

(figuratively) Anything that involves constant violent or chaotic activity around some centre.

(historical) A supposed collection of particles of very subtle matter, endowed with a rapid rotary motion around an axis which was also the axis of a sun or planet; part of a Cartesian theory accounting for the formation of the universe, and the movements of the bodies composing it.

(zoology) Any of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera.

Source: Wiktionary

Vor"tex, n.; pl. E. Vortexes, L. Vortices. Etym: [L. vortex, vertex, -icis, fr. vortere, vertere, to turn. See Vertex.]

1. A mass of fluid, especially of a liquid, having a whirling or circular motion tending to form a cavity or vacuum in the center of the circle, and to draw in towards the center bodies subject to its action; the form assumed by a fluid in such motion; a whirlpool; an eddy.

2. (Cartesian System)

Definition: A supposed collection of particles of very subtile matter, endowed with a rapid rotary motion around an axis which was also the axis of a sun or a planet. Descartes attempted to account for the formation of the universe, and the movements of the bodies composing it, by a theory of vortices.

3. (Zoöl.)

Definition: Any one of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera. See Illustration in Appendix. Vortex atom (Chem.), a hypothetical ring-shaped mass of elementary matter in continuous vortical motion. It is conveniently regarded in certain mathematical speculations as the typical form and structure of the chemical atom.

– Vortex wheel, a kind of turbine.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition