turbillion

English

Alternative forms

• turbullion

1. • 1836, Joanna Baillie, Enthusiasm, act 2:

     'I would not undertake to supply either lords or ladies wi' such a turbullion of roaring, and thumping, and winnowing of arms, for a month's wages twice told.'

Etymology

French tourbillon, from Latin turbo (“a whirl”).

Noun

turbillion (plural turbillions)

1. (archaic) A whirlwind or vortex.
   • 1712 September 12 (Gregorian calendar), [Joseph Addison], “MONDAY, September 1, 1712”, in The Spectator, number 472; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume V, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, 1853, →OCLC:

     each of them is a fun moving on its own axis in the centre of its own vortex or turbillion

     The spelling has been modernized.

References

• “turbillion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.