maelstrom
Plural: maelstroms
Noun
- a powerful circular current of water (usually the result of conflicting tides)
- A large and violent whirlpool.
- A chaotic or turbulent situation.
Origin / Etymology
The word was originally the name of a giant whirlpool off Norway in the Arctic Ocean which was said to destroy all ships that came close to it, likely the actual tidal pool system of Moskstraumen in Lofoten.
It is borrowed from early modern Dutch maelstrom (“whirlpool”) (obsolete) (modern Dutch maalstroom), from malen (“to whirl around; to grind”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush, grind”)) + stroom (“stream; river; current or flow of water or other liquid”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srew- (“to flow, stream”)), and was popularized by Edgar Allen Poe’s short story A Descent into the Maelström (1841).
Cognates
* Danish malstrøm
* German Mahlstrom
* Swedish malström
Scrabble Score: 13
maelstrom: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordmaelstrom: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
maelstrom: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary