coil

English

Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /kɔɪl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔɪl

Etymology 1

From Middle French coillir (“to gather, pluck, pick, cull”) (French: cueillir), from Latin colligere (“to gather together”), past participle collectus, from com- (“together”) + legere (“to gather”); compare legend.

Helical or coil springs

Noun

coil (plural coils)

1. Something wound in the form of a helix or spiral.
2. Common name for any intra-uterine contraceptive device (Abbreviation: IUD)—the first IUDs were coil-shaped.
3. (electrical) A coil of electrically conductive wire through which electricity can flow.

Synonyms

• (coil of conductive wire): inductor

Translations

something wound

Arabic: ملف (milaff) m., وشيعة (wašīʕa) f. Bulgarian: намотка (bg) f., навивка (bg) Dutch: spiraal (nl) c., veer (nl) f. Finnish: kierukka (fi), vyyhti (fi), kela (fi) German: Spirale f., Wickel m.

Greek: σπείρα (el) (spíra) f., κουλούρα (el) (kouloúra) f. Russian: спираль (ru) (spirál’) f., кольцо (ru) (kol’có) n. Scottish Gaelic: lùb (gd) f. Spanish: espiral (es) f., hélice (es) f.

intra-uterine contraceptive device

Bulgarian: спирала (bg) (spirála) f. Dutch: spiraal (nl) c. Finnish: kierukka (fi) German: Spirale (de) f.

Greek: κολπικό διάφραγμα (el) (kolpikó diáfragma) n. Russian: внутриматочная спираль (ru) (vnutrimátočnaja spirál’) f., спираль (ru) (spirál’) f. Spanish: DIU (es) m.

electrical

Armenian: կոճ (hy) (koč̣) Bulgarian: бобина (bg) (bobína) f. Czech: cívka (cs) f. Dutch: spoel (nl) f. Finnish: käämi (fi), kela (fi) French: bobine (fr) f.

German: Spule (de) f. Greek: πηνίο (el) (pinío) n. Italian: bobina (it) f. Russian: катушка (ru) (katúška) f. Slovene: tuljava (sl) f. Spanish: bobina (es) f.

Verb

coil (third-person singular simple present coils, present participle coiling, simple past and past participle coiled)

1. To wind or reel e.g. a wire or rope into regular rings, often around a centerpiece.

   A simple transformer can be made by coiling two pieces of insulated copper wire around an iron heart.

2. To wind into loops (roughly) around a common center.

   The sailor coiled the free end of the hawser on the pier.

Translations

wind into regular rings

Bulgarian: навивам (bg), намотавам (bg) Dutch: oprollen (nl), opwinden (nl) Finnish: kiertää (fi), keriä (fi), käämiä (fi)

Greek: περιελίσσω (el) (perielísso), περισπειρώ (el) (perispeiró), κουλουριάζω (el) (koulouriázo)

wind into loops

Bulgarian: намотавам (bg) Dutch: oprollen (nl), opwinden (nl)

Finnish: keriä (fi), vyyhtiä (fi) Greek: περιελίσσω (el) (perielísso), περισπειρώ (el) (perispeiró)

Etymology 2

Origin unknown.

Noun

coil (plural coils)

1. (now obsolete except in phrases) A noise, tumult, bustle, or turmoil.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act III:

     If the windes rage, doth not the Sea wax mad, / Threatning the welkin with his big-swolne face? / And wilt thou haue a reason for this coile?

1. • 1624, John Smith, Generall Historie, in Kupperman 1988, p. 162:

     this great Savage desired also to see him. A great coyle there was to set him forward.

   • 1704, Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub:

     they continued so extremely fond of gold, that if Peter sent them abroad, though it were only upon a compliment, they would roar, and spit, and belch, and piss, and f—t, and snivel out fire, and keep a perpetual coil, till you flung them a bit of gold [...].

Quotations

• For examples of the usage of this term see the citations page.

Derived terms

• mortal coil

Translations

noise

Dutch: rumoer (nl) n.

Greek: θόρυβος (el) (thóryvos) m.

External links

• coil in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• coil in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

Anagrams

• Clio
• loci

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Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA: [kɛlʲ]

Noun

coil

1. genitive singular form of col

Irish mutation
Radical	Lenition	Eclipsis
coil	choil	gcoil
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.