helix

See also: Helix, hélix, and hèlix

English

Helix

Etymology

From Latin helix, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “something twisted or spiral”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhiːlɪks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːlɪks
• Rhymes: -ɪks

Noun

helix (plural helixes or helices)

1. (mathematics) A curve on the surface of a cylinder or cone such that its angle to a plane perpendicular to the axis is constant; the three-dimensional curve seen in a screw or a spiral staircase.
2. (architecture) A small volute under the abacus of a Corinthian capital.
3. (anatomy) The incurved rim of the external ear.

   helix piercing

4. An upside down midair 360° spin in playboating.

Synonyms

• (curve): spiral (not in technical use)

Derived terms

• alpha helix
• anthelix
• antihelix
• Boerdijk-Coxeter helix
• double helix
• helical
• helically
• helicase
• heliciform
• helicin
• helixlike
• helix-loop-helix
• helix-turn-helix
• hemihelix
• interhelix
• microhelix
• minihelix
• multihelix
• superhelix
• tetrahelix
• trihelix

Related terms

• helicopter

Translations

curve

• Arabic: لَوْلَب m (lawlab)
• Armenian: պարույր (hy) (paruyr)
• Asturian: héliz (ast) f
• Bulgarian: спира́ла (bg) f (spirála)
• Catalan: hèlix f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 螺旋 (zh) (luóxuán)

• Czech: šroubovice (cs) f
• Danish: skruelinje
• Dutch: helix (nl) f, schroeflijn (nl) f
• Esperanto: helikso, helico (eo)
• Finnish: ruuviviiva; ruuvikierre
• French: hélice (fr) f
• German: Spirale (de) f, Wendel (de) f, Helix (de) f
• Icelandic: skrúflína f, gormferill m
• Italian: elica (it) f
• Japanese: 螺旋 (ja) (らせん, rasen)
• Kazakh: бұранда сызық (būranda syzyq)
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: lûlpêç

• Macedonian: завојница f (zavojnica)
• Māori: maurea
• Persian: پیچه (fa) (piče)
• Polish: helisa f
• Portuguese: hélice (pt) f
• Russian: спира́ль (ru) f (spirálʹ), винтова́я ли́ния f (vintovája línija)
• Spanish: hélice (es) f
• Swedish: helix (sv)
• Tagalog: pilipit
• Turkish: sarmal (tr)

in architecture

• Catalan: hèlix f
• Finnish: heliks
• Greek: έλικα (el) f (élika)

  Ancient Greek: ἕλιξ f (hélix)

• Tagalog: pilipit

of the ear

• Bulgarian: охлюв (bg) m (ohljuv)
• Catalan: hèlix f
• Esperanto: helikso
• Finnish: heliks, ylärusto
• Greek: έλικα (el) f (élika)
• Portuguese: hélice (pt) m, hélix m
• Russian: завито́к (ru) m (zavitók)

Verb

helix (third-person singular simple present helixes, present participle helixing, simple past and past participle helixed)

1. To form or cause to form a helix.
   • 1953, Division of Metrology Technical Paper - Issues 1-7, page 25:

     A large positive inclination gives a chip which will helix out of the space between the face mill and the workpiece.

   • 1967, Aviation Week & Space Technology - Volume 87, page 295:

     When the shaft is unsupported, the large torque tends to helix the inner core, and if the casing is not stiff enough, it will helix the casing also.

   • 1997, Physical Review: Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics:

     The decrease in d enhances the probability that remaining SDLs will helix, leading to an outward traveling wave of helixing and a jump in 5d.

   • 2010, Phillip Beach, Muscles and Meridians E-Book: The Manipulation of Shape, →ISBN, page 95:

     Conceptually, this field will helix up from the genital tip, here modelled as the caudal singularity of the left and right domains of the H-CFs.

Derived terms

• self-helixing

See also

• left-handed
• right-handed
• spiral

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin helix, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦeː.lɪks/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: he‧lix

Noun

helix f (plural helices or helixen, no diminutive)

1. helix

   Synonym: schroeflijn

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *welH-der.

Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix)bor.

Latin helix

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈhɛ.lɪks]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈɛː.liks]

Noun

helix f (genitive helicis); third declension

1. a kind of ivy
2. a kind of willow
3. a whorl, a small ornament on the capital of Corinthian columns

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	helix	helicēs
genitive	helicis	helicum
dative	helicī	helicibus
accusative	helicem	helicēs
ablative	helice	helicibus
vocative	helix	helicēs

Descendants

• → Catalan: hèlix
• → Dutch: helix
• → English: helix
• → French: hélice
• → Galician: hélice
• → Italian: elica
• → Polish: helisa
• → Portuguese: hélice
• → Romanian: elice
• → Sicilian: èlica
• → Spanish: hélice

References

• “helix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “helix”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French hélix.

Noun

helix n (plural helixuri)

1. helix

Declension

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	helix	helixul	helixuri	helixurile
genitive-dative	helix	helixului	helixuri	helixurilor
vocative	helixule		helixurilor