In 1511, leaders in Mecca believed coffee stimulated radical thinking and outlawed the drink. In 1524, the leaders overturned that order, and people could drink coffee again.
WHORL
coil, spiral, volute, whorl, helix
(noun) a structure consisting of something wound in a continuous series of loops; “a coil of rope”
lock, curl, ringlet, whorl
(noun) a strand or cluster of hair
coil, whorl, roll, curl, curlicue, ringlet, gyre, scroll
(noun) a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Noun
whorl (plural whorls)
A pattern of concentric circles.
(botany) A circle of three or more leaves, flowers, or other organs, about the same part or joint of a stem.
(zoology) A volution, or turn, of the spire of a univalve shell.
(anatomy) Any volution, as for example in the human ear or fingerprint.
A flywheel, a weight attached to a spindle. [from c. 1460]
Verb
whorl (third-person singular simple present whorls, present participle whorling, simple past and past participle whorled)
(intransitive) To form a pattern of concentric circles.
Source: Wiktionary
Whorl, n. Etym: [OE. whorvil the whirl of a spindle; akin to AS. hweorfa the whirl of a spindle, hweorfan to turn; cf. OD. worvel the whirl of a spindle. See Whirl, n. & v.]
1. (Bot.)
Definition: A circle of two or more leaves, flowers, or other organs, about the same part or joint of a stem.
2. (Zoöl.)
Definition: A volution, or turn, of the spire of a univalve shell.
3. (Spinning)
Definition: The fly of a spindle.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
24 December 2024
INTUITIVELY
(adverb) in an intuitive manner; “inventors seem to have chosen intuitively a combination of explosive and aggressive sounds as warning signals to be used on automobiles”
Coffee Trivia
