volute

American  

[vuh-loot] / vəˈlut /

noun

1. a spiral or twisted formation or object.

2. Architecture. a spiral ornament, found especially in the capitals of the Ionic, Corinthian, and Composite orders.

3. Carpentry. a horizontal scrolled termination to the handrail of a stair.

4. Zoology.

   1. a turn or whorl of a spiral shell.

   2. any of various tropical marine gastropods of the family Volutidae, many species of which have shells prized for their coloration.

5. the spiral casing surrounding the impeller of a centrifugal pump.

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adjective

1. having a volute or rolled-up form.

2. Machinery.

   1. spirally shaped or having a part so shaped.

   2. moving in a circular way, especially if combined with a lateral motion.

volute British  

/ ˈvɒljuːt, vəˈluːt /

noun

1. a spiral or twisting turn, form, or object; spiral; whorl

2. Also called: helix.  a carved ornament, esp as used on an Ionic capital, that has the form of a spiral scroll

3. any of the whorls of the spirally coiled shell of a snail or similar gastropod mollusc

4. any tropical marine gastropod mollusc of the family Volutidae, typically having a spiral shell with beautiful markings

5. a tangential part, resembling the volute of a snail's shell, that collects the fluids emerging from the periphery of a turbine, impeller pump, etc

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adjective

1. having the form of a volute; spiral

2. machinery moving in a spiral path

Other Word Forms

• intervolute adjective
• voluted adjective
• volution noun

Etymology

Origin of volute

First recorded in 1690–1700; from French or directly from Latin volūta “a scroll,” feminine noun use of volūtus, past participle of volvere “to turn”; revolve

Example Sentences

Her basic eyeliner became an ornate volute, a swath of clown makeup, a cat mask.

From New York Times • Jul. 27, 2011

Ionic, ī-on′ik, adj. relating to Ionia in Greece: denoting an order in architecture distinguished by the ram's-horn volute of its capital—also Iō′nian.—vs.t.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

In the eye of this volute a rose is sculptured in relief.

From A Catalogue of Sculpture in the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, British Museum, Volume I (of 2) by Smith, A. H.

There can be no doubt that the symbolism of the Mycenæan spiral and the volute is closely related to the octopus.

From The Evolution of the Dragon by Smith, G. Elliot

Their favourite motive seems to have been the volute, to which, however, they gave an endless variety.

From A History of Art in Chaldæa & Assyria, v. 1 by Armstrong, Walter, Sir

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