vortex definition | Dictionary.com

vor⋅tex

[vawr-teks]

–noun, plural -tex⋅es, -ti⋅ces [-tuh-seez]

1.	a whirling mass of water, esp. one in which a force of suction operates, as a whirlpool.

2.	a whirling mass of air, esp. one in the form of a visible column or spiral, as a tornado.

3.	a whirling mass of fire, flame, etc.

4.	a state of affairs likened to a whirlpool for violent activity, irresistible force, etc.

5.	something regarded as drawing into its powerful current everything that surrounds it: the vortex of war.

6.	(in Cartesian philosophy) a rapid rotatory movement of cosmic matter about a center, regarded as accounting for the origin or phenomena of bodies or systems of bodies in space.

Origin:
1645–55; < L, var. of vertex vertex

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To vortex

vor·tex (vôr'těks')

n. pl. vor·tex·es or vor·ti·ces (-tĭ-sēz')

A spiral motion of fluid within a limited area, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center.
A place or situation regarded as drawing into its center all that surrounds it: "As happened with so many theater actors, he was swept up in the vortex of Hollywood" (New York Times).

[Latin vortex, vortic-, variant of vertex, from vertere, to turn; see wer-² in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Vortex

Vor"tex\, n.; pl. E. Vortexes, L. Vortices. [L. vortex, vertex, -icis, fr. vortere, vertere, to turn. See Vertex.]

1. A mass of fluid, especially of a liquid, having a whirling or circular motion tending to form a cavity or vacuum in the center of the circle, and to draw in towards the center bodies subject to its action; the form assumed by a fluid in such motion; a whirlpool; an eddy.

2. (Cartesian System) A supposed collection of particles of very subtile matter, endowed with a rapid rotary motion around an axis which was also the axis of a sun or a planet. Descartes attempted to account for the formation of the universe, and the movements of the bodies composing it, by a theory of vortices.

3. (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera. See Illustration in Appendix.

Vortex atom (Chem.), a hypothetical ring-shaped mass of elementary matter in continuous vortical motion. It is conveniently regarded in certain mathematical speculations as the typical form and structure of the chemical atom.

Vortex wheel, a kind of turbine.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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vortex

1652, "whirlpool, eddying mass," from L. vortex, variant of vertex "an eddy of water, wind, or flame; whirlpool; whirlwind," from stem of vertere "to turn" (see versus). Plural form is vortices. Became prominent in 17c. theories of astrophysics (by Descartes, etc.). In ref. to human affairs, it is attested from 1761. Vorticism as a movement in British arts and literature is attested from 1914, coined by Ezra Pound.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Main Entry: vor·tex
Pronunciation: 'vo(&)r-"teks
Function: transitive verb
: to mix (as the contents of a test tube) by means of a rapid whirlingor circular motion <vortex air into a solution> —vor·tex·ing noun

vortex vor·tex (vôr'těks')
n. pl. vor·tex·es or vor·ti·ces (-tĭ-sēz')
A spiral motion of fluid within a limited area, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center.

vortex (vôr'těks') Pronunciation Key
Plural vortexes or vortices (vôr'tĭ-sēz')
A circular, spiral, or helical motion in a fluid (such as a gas) or the fluid in such a motion. A vortex often forms around areas of low pressure and attracts the fluid (and the objects moving within it) toward its center. Tornados are examples of vortexes; vortexes that form around flying objects are a source of turbulence and drag. See also eddy.

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