gyrate
English
Etymology 1
Back-formation from gyration,[1] on the basis of -ate (verb-forming suffix), from gyre (“to spin around; to gyrate, to whirl; (rare) to make (something) spin or whirl around; to spin, to whirl”) + -ation (suffix indicating actions or processes),[2] further from Late Middle English giren (“to turn (something) away; to cause (something) to revolve or rotate; to travel in a circle”),[3] from Old French girer (“to turn”), from Latin gȳrō (“to turn in a circle, rotate; to circle or revolve around”),[4] from gȳrus (“circle; circular motion; circuit, course”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix), from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “a circle, a ring”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend; to curve”).
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /dʒaɪˈɹeɪt/, /ˈdʒaɪɹeɪt/
Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈd͡ʒaɪˌɹeɪt/, /d͡ʒaɪˈɹeɪt/
- Rhymes: -eɪt (one pronunciation)
- Hyphenation: gyr‧ate
Verb
gyrate (third-person singular simple present gyrates, present participle gyrating, simple past and past participle gyrated)
- (intransitive) To revolve round a central point; to move spirally about an axis, as a tornado.
- The stripper gyrated sexily around a pole.
Derived terms
Translations
Etymology 2
From gyrus (“fold, convolution”) + -ate (adjective-forming suffix).
Adjective
gyrate (comparative more gyrate, superlative most gyrate)
- (biology) Having coils or convolutions.
Derived terms
Translations
References
- ^ “gyrate, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ “gyration, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “gyration, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022; Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “gyration”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ “ǧīren, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
- ^ Compare “gyrate, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2019; and “gyre, v.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “gyre, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
Latin
Verb
gȳrāte
- second-person plural present active imperative of gȳrō