*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of gyre

Borrowed from Latin gȳrus (“circle; circular motion”), from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle; ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend; to curve”). The English word is a doublet of gyro and gyrus.

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

A swirling vortex. · A circular or spiral motion; also, a circle described by a moving body; a revolution, a turn. · Synonym of gyrus (“a fold or ridge on the cerebral cortex of the brain”). · An ocean current caused by wind which moves in a circular manner, especially one that is large-scale and observed in a major ocean.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Borrowed from Latin gȳrus (“circle; circular motion”), from Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle; ring”), from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend; to curve”). The English word is a doublet of gyro and gyrus.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*gew-ine-pro
  • Borrowed-form mentiongȳrusla · circle; circular motion
  • Derivation mentionγῦροςgrc · circle; ring
  • Derivation mention*gew-ine-pro · to bend; to curve
  • Doublet mentiongyroen
  • Doublet mentiongyrusen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*gew-"
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    },
    {
      "name": "bor",
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        "2": "la",
        "3": "gȳrus",
        "t": "circle; circular motion"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin gȳrus (“circle; circular motion”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "grc",
        "3": "γῦρος",
        "t": "circle; ring"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek γῦρος (gûros, “circle; ring”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
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        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*gew-",
        "t": "to bend; to curve"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend; to curve”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gyro",
        "3": "gyrus",
        "nocap": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "doublet of gyro and gyrus"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "gȳrus",
      "gyrus#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "γῦρος",
      "γῦρος#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "*gew-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/gew-"
    ],
    [
      "gyro",
      "gyro#English"
    ],
    [
      "gyrus",
      "gyrus#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A swirling vortex.",
        "A circular or spiral motion; also, a circle described by a moving body; a revolution, a turn.",
        "Synonym of gyrus (“a fold or ridge on the cerebral cortex of the brain”).",
        "An ocean current caused by wind which moves in a circular manner, especially one that is large-scale and observed in a major ocean."
      ],
      "tags": [
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        "poetic",
        "archaic"
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}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To spin around; to gyrate, to whirl. · To make (something) spin or whirl around; to spin, to whirl.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Late Middle English giren (“to turn (something) away; to cause (something) to revolve or rotate; to travel in a circle”), from Old French girer (“to turn”), and directly from its etymon Latin gȳrāre, the present active infinitive of gȳrō (“to turn in a circle, rotate; to circle or revolve around”), from gȳrus (“circle; circular motion”) (see etymology 1) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentiongirenenm · to turn (something) away; to cause (something) to revolve or rotate; to travel in a circle
  • Derivation mentiongirerfro · to turn
  • Derivation mentiongȳrārela
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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        "1": "conjugation"
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    ],
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      "girer#Old_French"
    ],
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      "gȳrāre",
      "gyrare#Latin"
    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ],
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    ]
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for gyre →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Z3lyZQ