gyroscope

American  

[jahy-ruh-skohp] / ˈdʒaɪ rəˌskoʊp /

noun

1. an apparatus consisting of a rotating wheel so mounted that its axis can turn freely in certain or all directions, and capable of maintaining the same absolute direction in space in spite of movements of the mountings and surrounding parts: used to maintain equilibrium, determine direction, etc.

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gyroscope British  

/ ˌdʒaɪrəˈskɒpɪk, ˈdʒaɪrəˌskəʊp /

noun

1. Sometimes shortened to: gyro.  a device containing a disc rotating on an axis that can turn freely in any direction so that the disc resists the action of an applied couple and tends to maintain the same orientation in space irrespective of the movement of the surrounding structure

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gyroscope Scientific  

/ jī′rə-skōp′ /

1. An instrument consisting of a heavy disk or wheel spun rapidly about an axis like a top. The angular momentum of the disk causes it to resist changes in the direction of its axis of rotation, due to the principle of conservation of angular momentum. Because of the gyroscope's tendency to remain oriented in one direction, it is used as a stabilizing device in missiles, as well as in the navigation and piloting systems of airplanes, ships, rockets, and other vehicles.

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Other Word Forms

• gyroscopic adjective
• gyroscopically adverb
• gyroscopics noun

Etymology

Origin of gyroscope

First recorded in 1855–60; borrowed from the French word gyroscope, a combination of gyro- ( Greek gŷros meaning “ring, circle”) + -scope ( New Latin -scopium, from Greek skopeîn meaning “to look at”). It was coined by French physicist Léon Foucault in 1852, and so named because the purpose of a gyroscope is to show the rotation of the earth through the observation of a wheel on its axis.

Explanation

A gyroscope is a mechanical tool that can figure out the speed and direction of anything that it’s attached to, and you can find gyroscope technology in compasses, airplanes, video games, and cell phones. A gyroscope is a circular disk with a pole through the middle, surrounded by three rings that can each rotate whatever direction they please. No matter how you spin the rings, the disc stays flat. In the 1850s, a French physicist used a gyroscope to explain how the Earth rotates on its axis. For his clever experiment, he got to name the gyroscope, choosing a combination of Greek words that literally translates to “circle watcher.”

Example Sentences

This time, a human gyroscope leads the way.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

Rare-earth elements are mostly used to make high-powered magnets — those needed to manufacture a gyroscope for a fighter jet, for example.

From MarketWatch • Oct. 30, 2025

The agency is now invoking a contingency plan: a “one-gyro” mode that keeps the other functioning gyroscope in reserve.

From Science Magazine • Jun. 4, 2024

Once the researchers have improved the resolution and stability of the single-axis system, they plan to set up a three-axis gyroscope.

From Science Daily • May 21, 2024

Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other.

From "1984" by George Orwell