English → Latin
“spiral” in Latin
spīrōto breathe, draw breath, respire; to blow, breathe, burst forth; to breathe out, exhale, emitexstruōto pile, heap or build up; to build up, raise, rear, erect, construct
The English word spiral itself goes back to Latin spīra, through spiralis.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
spiral
quasi in cochleam serpens: in cochleam retortus: muricatim intortus (Plin., 9, 33, 52). A spiral line, spira: linea tortuosa (not spiralis): a spiral pillar, columna cochlis (P. Vict., De Regg. urb. Rom., 8, 9): a spiral stair-case, *gradus quasi in cochleam serpentes or exstructi. ☞ Cochlea is without authority.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for spiral?
- The usual Latin words for “spiral” are spīrō, exstruō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.