whirl

whirl · verb¹

1. Old Norse · derived fromhvirfla“to go round, spin”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwerbaną“to turn”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hwerban
4. Old English · derived fromhweorfan“to turn”
5. Old English · inherited from*hwyrflian
6. Middle English · inherited fromwhirlen
7. English todaywhirl

From Middle English whirlen, contracted from earlier *whirvelen, *whervelen, possibly from Old English *hwyrflian, *hweorflian (attested in hwirflung, hwerflung (“change, vicissitude”)), frequentative form of Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), itself from Proto-West Germanic *hwerban, from Proto-Germanic *hwerbaną (“to turn”); or perhaps from Old Norse hvirfla (“to go round, spin”). Cognate with Dutch wervelen (“to whirl, swirl”), German wirbeln (“to whirl, swirl”), Danish hvirvle (“to whirl”), Swedish virvla (older spelling hvirfla), Albanian vorbull (“a whirl”). Related to whirr and wharve.

whirl · noun²

1. Old Norse · derived fromhvirfill“ring, circle, crown”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwirbilaz
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hwirbil
4. Old English · inherited fromhwirfel
5. Middle English · inherited fromwhirl
6. English todaywhirl

From Middle English whirl, wherwille, whorwhil, wervel, from Old English hwirfel, hwyrfel (“whirlpool”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwirbil, from Proto-Germanic *hwirbilaz, *hwarbilaz (“swirl, whirl, whirlpool”), equivalent to wharve + -el; and also Old Norse hvirfill (“ring, circle, crown”), whence Danish hvirvel (“cowlick”), Dutch werveling (“whirling, vortex”), German Low German Warvel (“whirl, whirlpool”), German Wirbel (“whirl, whirlpool”).

Words from the same roots