gyre

/ˈdʒaɪər/

Other forms: gyres

Use the word gyre when you describe the spiral shape that petals make in the face of a flower.

You can use the noun gyre in a variety of ways, but it always means a kind of circle, especially one that coils or spirals. You'll see a gyre when you look straight at certain blossoms — the rings of petals in a rose, for example, form a gyre. Some plants have gyres of leaves making concentric circles. In late Middle English, to gyre was to "spin something around in circles," from the Greek root word gyros, "circle or ring."

Definitions of gyre

1. noun

   a round shape formed by a series of concentric circles (as formed by leaves or flower petals)
   synonyms: coil, curl, curlicue, ringlet, roll, scroll, whorl

   types:

   corolla

   (botany) the whorl of petals of a flower that collectively form an inner floral envelope or layer of the perianth

   calyx

   (botany) the whorl of sepals of a flower collectively forming the outer floral envelope or layer of the perianth enclosing and supporting the developing bud; usually green

   verticil

   a whorl of leaves growing around a stem

   hull

   persistent enlarged calyx at base of e.g. a strawberry or raspberry

   pappus

   calyx composed of scales or bristles or featherlike hairs in plants of the Compositae such as thistles and dandelions

   type of:

   round shape

   a shape that is curved and without sharp angles