helix

[hee-liks]

noun

plural

helices, helixes 

1. a spiral.

2. Geometry.,  the curve formed by a straight line drawn on a plane when that plane is wrapped around a cylindrical surface of any kind, especially a right circular cylinder, as the curve of a screw. Equation: x = a sinθ, y = a cosθ, z = b θ.

3. Architecture.

   1. a spiral ornament.

   2. (in a Corinthian capital) either of two scrolls issuing from a cauliculus.

4. Anatomy.,  the curved fold forming most of the rim of the external ear.

5. Biochemistry.,  alpha helix.

helix

/ ˈhiːlɪks /

noun

1. a curve that lies on a cylinder or cone, at a constant angle to the line segments making up the surface; spiral

2. a spiral shape or form

3. the incurving fold that forms the margin of the external ear

4. another name for volute

5. any terrestrial gastropod mollusc of the genus Helix, which includes the garden snail ( H. aspersa )

helix

1. A three-dimensional spiral curve. In mathematical terms, a helix can be described as a curve turning about an axis on the surface of a cylinder or cone while rising at a constant upward angle from a base.

2. Something, such as a strand of DNA, having a spiral shape.

helix

1. In geometry, a three-dimensional spiral shape, resembling a spring.

Word History and Origins

Origin of helix¹

1555–65; < Latin: a spiral, a kind of ivy < Greek hélix anything twisted; compare helíssein to turn, twist, roll

Word History and Origins

Origin of helix¹

C16: from Latin, from Greek: spiral; probably related to Greek helissein to twist

Example Sentences

Form and content, the visual and the physical, create art’s spellbinding double helix.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Watson shared the Nobel in 1962 with Maurice Wilkins and Crick for the DNA's double helix structure discovery.

Read more on BBC

When she loses her cycle, she is forced to run up the helix of a parking garage at normal human speed, giving a pathetic comedic element to someone who ought to be terrifying.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Normally, alpha-synuclein's natural or "native state" is like a flexible strand, but when active it shapes itself into a helix, which is critical for its function in binding and transporting parcels of dopamine.

Read more on Science Daily

This is because the layers of helices stuck together are too big to be the building blocks of nanofibers.

Read more on Science Daily

Related Words

• arc 
• arch 
• contour 
• loop 
• trajectory