eddy

WOTD – 9 April 2010    

See also Eddy

English

Etymology

From Middle English eddy, from either Old English edēa (< ed- "turning" + ēa "water"), equivalent to ed- +‎ ea; or from Old Norse iða.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA: /ˈɛd.i/
• Rhymes: -ɛdi

Noun

eddy (plural eddies)

1. A current of air or water running back, or in an opposite direction to the main current. Especially a circular current.

Translations

air or water running in an opposite direction to the main current

• Afrikaans: warrelstrome (af)
• Bulgarian: вихър (bg) (vihǎr) m, вихрушка (bg) (vihruška) f
• Finnish: akanvirta (fi)
• French: contre-courant (fr)
• German: Wirbel (de) m
• Hungarian: bukószél (hu) (air)
• Italian: vortice (it) m, gorgo (it) m, mulinello (it) m

• Polish: wir (pl) m
• Portuguese: vórtice (pt) m, remoinho (pt) m
• Romanian: contracurent (ro) m
• Russian: завихрение (ru) (zavixrénije) n, вихрь (ru) (vixrʹ) m
• Spanish: contracorriente (es) f, revesa (es) f, remolino (es) m
• Swedish: eda (sv) c (dialectal), strömvirvel (sv) c

See also

• countercurrent
• dust devil

Verb

eddy (third-person singular simple present eddies, present participle eddying, simple past and past participle eddied)

1. (intransitive) To form an eddy; to move in, or as if in, an eddy; to move in a circle.
   • Wordsworth

     Eddying round and round they sink.

Anagrams

• dyed