The story
- Middle English · inherited fromwhirlewind
- English todaywhirlwind
From Middle English whirlewind, whirlewynde, equivalent to whirl + wind. Compare Middle Dutch wervelwint, Old Norse hvirfilvindr.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
whirlwind
Today it means: A windstorm of limited extent, such as a tornado, dust devil, or waterspout, characterized by an inward spiral motion of the air with an upward current in the center; a vortex of air. Full definition →
Middle English whirlewind