helix

From Latin helix, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix, “something twisted or spiral”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈhiːlɪks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːlɪks
• Rhymes: -ɪks

helix (plural helixes or helices)

1. (mathematics) A curve on the surface of a cylinder or cone such that its angle to a plane perpendicular to the axis is constant; the three-dimensional curve seen in a screw or a spiral staircase.
2. (architecture) A small volute under the abacus of a Corinthian capital.
3. (anatomy) The incurved rim of the external ear.

   helix piercing

4. An upside down midair 360° spin in playboating.

• (curve): spiral (not in technical use)

• helicopter

helix (third-person singular simple present helixes, present participle helixing, simple past and past participle helixed)

1. To form or cause to form a helix.
   • 1953, Division of Metrology Technical Paper - Issues 1-7, page 25:

     A large positive inclination gives a chip which will helix out of the space between the face mill and the workpiece.

   • 1967, Aviation Week & Space Technology - Volume 87, page 295:

     When the shaft is unsupported, the large torque tends to helix the inner core, and if the casing is not stiff enough, it will helix the casing also.

   • 1997, Physical Review: Statistical physics, plasmas, fluids, and related interdisciplinary topics:

     The decrease in d enhances the probability that remaining SDLs will helix, leading to an outward traveling wave of helixing and a jump in 5d.

   • 2010, Phillip Beach, Muscles and Meridians E-Book: The Manipulation of Shape, →ISBN, page 95:

     Conceptually, this field will helix up from the genital tip, here modelled as the caudal singularity of the left and right domains of the H-CFs.

• left-handed
• right-handed
• spiral

Borrowed from Latin helix, from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix).

• IPA^(key): /ˈɦeː.lɪks/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: he‧lix

helix f (plural helices or helixen)

1. helix

   Synonym: schroeflijn

Borrowed from Ancient Greek ἕλιξ (hélix).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈhe.liks/, [ˈhɛlʲɪks̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈe.liks/, [ˈɛːliks]

helix f (genitive helicis); third declension

1. a kind of ivy
2. a kind of willow
3. a whorl, a small ornament on the capital of Corinthian columns

Third-declension noun.

• “helix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• helix in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Borrowed from French hélix.

helix n (plural helixuri)

1. helix