volute

[ vuh-loot ]

/ vəˈlut /

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See synonyms for: volute / voluted / volution on Thesaurus.com

noun

a spiral or twisted formation or object.

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

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

Zoology.

a turn or whorl of a spiral shell.
any of various tropical marine gastropods of the family Volutidae, many species of which have shells prized for their coloration.

the spiral casing surrounding the impeller of a centrifugal pump.

adjective

having a volute or rolled-up form.

Machinery.

spirally shaped or having a part so shaped.
moving in a circular way, especially if combined with a lateral motion.

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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”; see revolve

OTHER WORDS FROM volute

vo·lut·ed, adjectivevo·lu·tion, nounin·ter·vo·lute, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use volute in a sentence

There seems to have been no distinction in the direction of the volutes, they turning indifferently to the right or to the left.
The Swastika|Thomas Wilson
Aplustre, ap-lus′tėr, n. the ornament rising above the stern of ancient ships, often a sheaf of volutes.
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D)|Various
Others are strings of large beads of gold, decorated with volutes, knots and other patterns of wire soldered over the surfaces.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3|Various
The red sky began to darken, and a large cloud lowered above them, regular at the base and forming volutes at the top.
Bouvard and Pcuchet, part 2|Gustave Flaubert

The ornamentation is chaste, consisting of narrow bands, etched with graceful scrolls and volutes on white burnished steel.
Spanish Arms and Armour|Albert F. Calvert

British Dictionary definitions for volute

volute

/ (ˈvɒljuːt, vəˈluːt) /

noun

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

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

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

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

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

adjective also: voluted (vəˈluːtɪd)

having the form of a volute; spiral

machinery moving in a spiral path

Word Origin for volute

C17: from Latin volūta a spiral decoration, from volūtus rolled, from volvere to roll up

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

volute

Origin of volute

OTHER WORDS FROM volute

Words related to volute

How to use volute in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for volute

Word Origin for volute