whorl

[ wawrl, wurl, hwawrl, hwurl ]

noun

1. a circular arrangement of like parts, as leaves or flowers, around a point on an axis; verticil.
2. one of the turns or volutions of a spiral shell.
3. anything shaped like a coil.
4. one of the central ridges of a fingerprint, forming at least one complete circle.
5. Textiles. a flywheel or pulley, as for a spindle.

whorl

/ wɜːl /

noun

1. botany a radial arrangement of three or more petals, stamens, leaves, etc, around a stem
2. zoology a single turn in a spiral shell
3. one of the basic patterns of the human fingerprint, formed by several complete circular ridges one inside another Compare arch 1 loop 1
4. anything shaped like a coil

whorl

/ hwôrl,wôrl,hwûrl,wûrl /

1. An arrangement of three or more appendages radiating in a circular or spiral arrangement from a point on a plant, as leaves around the node of a stem. The sepals, petals, stamens, and carpels of angiosperms form four separate whorls within a complete flower.
2. A single turn of a spiral shell of a mollusk.

Derived Forms

• whorled, adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of whorl¹

1425–75; late Middle English whorle, whorvil, wharwyl, Old English hwyrfel, equivalent to hweorfa whorl of a spindle + -el noun suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of whorl¹

C15: probably variant of wherville whirl , influenced by Dutch worvel

Example Sentences

The team assessed DNA from their volunteers to find the genetic basis of these patterns, looking for a specific balance of genes that shift the chances of having an arch versus a loop versus a whorl.

From Popular-Science

The genetic influence on arch, loop, and whorl distinction is coming in at that earlier stage of building that field where the fingerprint will form.

From Popular-Science

The goal here is not to remove any knife marks—there should be none left after the previous step—but to eliminate the whorls and roughness left behind by the grit before.

From Popular-Science

Astronomers have the capability to directly detect these whorls today, if the pattern is prominent enough, but have yet to find any.

From Popular-Science

The artist achieves a similar effect without painting in “Round and Round,” in which Easter-egg hues underlie an oval inscribed with fingerprint-like whorls.

From Washington Post

Fig. 66 shows a biconical whorl, and its top is decorated to represent three Swastikas and three burning altars.

From Project Gutenberg

The centers of the crosses are occupied by the central hole of the whorl, while the arms extend to the periphery.

From Project Gutenberg

The specimen represented in fig. 76 is not a spindle-whorl, as shown by the number and location of the holes.

From Project Gutenberg

The whorl shown in fig. 45 is nearly spherical, with two Swastikas in the upper part.

From Project Gutenberg

In this collection is a spindle-whorl, found at 13½ feet (4 meters) depth and belonging to the fourth city.

From Project Gutenberg