Wordwyrt

whorl

/ˈwɜːl/WURL
/ˈwɝl/WURL

Meaningto turn

Common meaning: a ring of leaves

Other meanings: a spiral

Journey through time

  1. Old Englishhweorfan‘to turn’sourceB&T
  2. Middle Englishwhorvilsource
  3. Middle Englishwharlsource
  4. Englishmeaning shiftsto turn → a ring of leaveswhorl‘a ring of leaves’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English hweorfan ‘to turn’.

Roots

Building blocks are an automatic split · open in app