gyrate
UK /dʒaɪˈɹeɪt/ · US /ˈd͡ʒaɪˌɹeɪt/ verb, adjective
Forms gyrates gyrating gyrated
- verb (intransitive) To revolve round a central point; to move spirally about an axis, as a tornado. “The stripper gyrated sexily around a pole.”
- adjective (biology) Having coils or convolutions.
Synonyms
Etymology
Back-formation from gyration, on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from gyre (“to spin around; to gyrate, to whirl; (rare) to make (something) spin or whirl around; to spin, to whirl”) + -ation (suffix indicating actions or processes), further from Late Middle English giren (“to turn (something) away; to cause (something) to revolve or rotate; to travel in a circle”), from Old French girer (“to turn”), from Latin gȳrō (“to turn in a circle, rotate; to circle or revolve around”), from gȳrus (“circle; circular motion; circuit, course”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “a circle, a ring”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend; to curve”). By surface analysis, gyre + -ate (verb-forming suffix).
From gyrus (“fold, convolution”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Winding or coiled round; curved into a circle; taking a circular course.
- verb To revolve round a central point; to move spirally about an axis, as a tornado; to revolve.
Etymology [L. gyratus made in a circular form, p. p. of gyrare.]
Etymology [L. gyratus, p. p. of gyrare to gyrate. See Gyre, n.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “gyrate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details