Whorl

Leaf whorl

Whorl in the meaning "flywheel", "a weight attached to a spindle" is attested in English from 1460.

Other meanings of "whorl" include:

A whorl of sepals in a flower of a flowering plant
A circle or spiral formed by leaves,etc. around the stem of a plant.
Whorl (mollusc), a single, complete 360° turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell.
* Body whorl, in a mollusc shell the most recently formed whorl of a spiral shell, terminating in the aperture.
A type of fingerprint pattern.

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