different between whirl vs pirouette

English

Etymology

From Middle English whirlen, contracted from earlier *whervelen, possibly from Old English *hweorflian, frequentative form of Old English hweorfan (“to turn”), itself from Proto-Germanic *hwerban? (“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.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /w??l/ or IPA^(key): /???l/ (some Welsh and English accents)
• (US) enPR: wûrl, IPA^(key): /w?l/ or enPR: hwûrl, IPA^(key): /??l/
• (Scotland, Ireland) IPA^(key): /???(??)l/

Rhymes: -??(r)l

• Homophone: whorl

Verb

whirl (third-person singular simple present whirls, present participle whirling, simple past and past participle whirled)

1. (intransitive) To rotate, revolve, spin or turn rapidly.

   • He whirls his sword around without delay.

   • 1900, L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

     The house whirled around two or three times and rose slowly through the air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon.

2. (intransitive) To have a sensation of spinning or reeling.

3. (transitive) To make something or someone whirl.

4. (transitive) To remove or carry quickly with, or as with, a revolving motion; to snatch.
   • The passionate heart of the poet is whirl'd into folly.

Translations

Noun

whirl (plural whirls)

1. An act of whirling.

   She gave the top a whirl and it spun across the floor.

2. Something that whirls.
3. A confused tumult.
4. A rapid series of events.

   My life is one social whirl.

5. Dizziness or giddiness.

   My mind was in a whirl.

6. (informal) (usually following “give”) A brief experiment or trial.

   OK, let's give it a whirl.

Derived terms

• awhirl
• whirligig
• whirlpool

Translations

English

Etymology

From French pirouette.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p?.????t/, /?p?.?u???t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?p?.???w?t/, /?p?.?u???t/
• Rhymes: -?t

Noun

pirouette (plural pirouettes)

1. A whirling or turning on the toes in dancing, primarily in ballet.
2. The whirling about of a horse.

Translations

Verb

pirouette (third-person singular simple present pirouettes, present participle pirouetting, simple past and past participle pirouetted)

1. (intransitive) To perform a pirouette; to whirl on the toes, like a dancer.

Translations

Further reading

• Glossary of ballet on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Pirouette (dressage) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French pirouette.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?pi.ru??.t?/
• Hyphenation: pi?rou?et?te
• Rhymes: -?t?

Noun

pirouette f (plural pirouettes or pirouetten)

1. pirouette

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pi.?w?t/

Etymology 1

Alteration of pirouelle, perhaps after girouette.

Noun

pirouette f (plural pirouettes)

1. A whirling or turning on the toes in dancing.
2. (sports, equestrians) A whirling volt movement made by a horse.

Derived terms

• pirouetter

Descendants

Etymology 2

Verb

pirouette

1. first-person singular present indicative of pirouetter
2. third-person singular present indicative of pirouetter
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of pirouetter
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of pirouetter
5. second-person singular imperative of pirouetter

Further reading

• “pirouette” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
• Vocabulaire de la danse classique on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr