Whirlewynde

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a violent column of air spinning rapidly around a central axis as it moves across the land
2. Old English word describing a fierce, swirling wind that twists upward in a spinning funnel of air
3. A rapidly rotating mass of wind, sometimes called a whirlwind, that sweeps up dust and debris as it travels

Etymology: This is a Middle English spelling of "whirlwind," a compound of "whirl" and "wind," and the two halves have different histories. "Wind" is native Germanic, from Old English "wind," and has cognates across the Germanic languages. "Whirl" is less certain. It probably entered English from Scandinavian sources, possibly related to Old Norse "hvirfla," meaning "to turn round," though the exact route is uncertain. Middle English had a verb "whirlen," so the compound joined a verb of turning to the moving air it describes. The extra "e" and "y" in this spelling reflect the inconsistent orthography of the period, when scribes spelled the same sounds in several ways.