vortical
1
8.3
Having a spinning motion like a small whirlpool
- adjective
- /ˈvɔrtɪkəl/
- Specialized
:
vortical
- In a vortical dance, the leaves spun around in the autumn breeze.
Examples
-
The vortical motion of the water made it difficult to stay afloat.
-
An important part of the topological structure comes from twisting caused by vortical motions at the star's photosphere.
Academic text (1996) -
The silence of it, too, the vortical quiet of held breath.
Fiction book (1999) -
The tornado's vortical winds uprooted trees and damaged homes.
Synonyms
How Swirling
Surface Forms
vortical positive
Morphology
vortical = vortex (semi-transparent) = vortic + al
The meaning is clearly 'relating to a vortex', but the stem change from 'vortex' to 'vortic-' makes the form less fully transparent for learners.
Etymology
Vortical comes from vortex, a word meaning 'whirl' or 'whirlpool', and is related to rotate, which means 'to turn'. So something vortical moves in a spinning, swirling way like water going down a drain.