tourbillion

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The Word of the Day for July 3 is:

tourbillion   \toor-BILL-yun\   noun
     1 : whirlwind  
    *2 : a vortex especially of a whirlwind or whirlpool

Example sentence:
     "In the history of any art there are unexpected eddies and tourbillions." (C. B. Cox, _The Twentieth-Century Mind_)

Did you know?
     "Tourbillion" comes from the same root as "turbine" -- namely, the Latin word "turbo," meaning "top" (as in a spinning object) or "whirlwind." "Tourbillion" has been used over time to refer to other spinning objects besides an actual whirlwind. Among watchmaking enthusiasts, "tourbillion" is the name of a kind of watch with a mechanism designed to compensate for the effects of gravity on its movement. Among pyrotechnics fans, a tourbillion is a kind of firework having a spiral flight. The variety of meanings for "tourbillion" is enough to make one's head spin!

*Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence.





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