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

• volution
  noun
• intervolute
  adjective
• voluted
  adjective

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”; see 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

I could see that it was alive, and was a volute of some kind.

From In Touch with Nature Tales and Sketches from the Life by Stables, Gordon

In them will be noticed the Orientalism that occasionally prevails, and shows its Byzantine parentage; a trace of the Greek volute and acanthus leaf is visible in Figs.

From Rambles of an Archaeologist Among Old Books and in Old Places Being Papers on Art, in Relation to Archaeology, Painting, Art-Decoration, and Art-Manufacture by Fairholt, F. W. (Frederick William)

Bend pipes, and the volute casings of centrifugal pumps and pipes, afford examples of this kind.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various

By these means certain primitive types of ornament are evolved, such as the Greek volute and the Greek key or fret, the logical ornament of a logical people.

From Line and Form (1900) by Crane, Walter

Related Words

• streamer