maelstrom

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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmeɪl.stɹəm/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈmeɪlˌstɹɒm/
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• General-American: /ˈmeɪl.stɹəm/
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• General-American: /ˈmæl.stɹəm/
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• General-American: /ˈmeɪlˌstɹɑm/
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• General-American: /ˈmeɪlˌstɹɔm/
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• General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• CMU ARPABET: M EY1 L S T R AH0 M Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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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

84 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Afrikaans: maalstroom — large and violent whirlpool
• Armenian: ջրապտույտ (ǰraptuyt) — large and violent whirlpool
• Armenian: հորձանուտ (horjanut) — large and violent whirlpool
• Belarusian: вір (vir) — large and violent whirlpool
• Belarusian: водаварот (vodavarot) — large and violent whirlpool
• Bulgarian: водовъртеж (vodovǎrtež) — large and violent whirlpool
• Catalan: voràgine — large and violent whirlpool
• Cebuano: lilo — large and violent whirlpool
• Chinese Mandarin: 漩渦 /漩涡 (xuánwō) — large and violent whirlpool
• Chinese Mandarin: 旋渦 /旋涡 (xuánwō) — large and violent whirlpool
• Cyrillic: ковѝтлац — large and violent whirlpool
• Cyrillic: вир — large and violent whirlpool
• Cyrillic: вр̀тлог — large and violent whirlpool
• Danish: malstrøm — large and violent whirlpool
• Dutch: maalstroom — large and violent whirlpool
• Dutch: draaikolk — large and violent whirlpool
• Dutch: kolk — large and violent whirlpool
• Middle Dutch: wiel — large and violent whirlpool
• Esperanto: akvokirlo — large and violent whirlpool
• Esperanto: akvoturno — large and violent whirlpool
• Esperanto: malstromo — large and violent whirlpool
• Estonian: maelström — large and violent whirlpool
• Faroese: malustreymur — large and violent whirlpool
• Faroese: meldur — large and violent whirlpool
• Faroese: meldurstreymur — large and violent whirlpool
• Finnish: kurimus — large and violent whirlpool
• French: maëlstrom — large and violent whirlpool
• French: tourbillon — large and violent whirlpool
• West-Frisian: draaistream — large and violent whirlpool
• Georgian: მორევი (morevi) — large and violent whirlpool
• German: Mahlstrom — large and violent whirlpool
• German: Strudel — large and violent whirlpool
• Greek: δίνη (díni) — large and violent whirlpool
• Hebrew: מערבולת (maarbòlet) — large and violent whirlpool
• Hungarian: örvény — large and violent whirlpool
• Icelandic: straumröst — large and violent whirlpool
• Italian: maelstrom — large and violent whirlpool
• Italian: vortice — large and violent whirlpool
• Italian: gorgo — large and violent whirlpool
• Italian: voragine — large and violent whirlpool
• Japanese: 狂瀾怒涛 (kyōrandotō) — large and violent whirlpool
• Japanese: 大渦巻き (ōuzumaki) — large and violent whirlpool
• Latvian: atvars — large and violent whirlpool
• Macedonian: ви́тел (vítel) — large and violent whirlpool
• Macedonian: водо́вртеж (vodóvrtež) — large and violent whirlpool
• Norwegian Bokmål: malstrøm — large and violent whirlpool
• Norwegian Nynorsk: malstraum — large and violent whirlpool
• Polish: wir — large and violent whirlpool
• Portuguese: voragem — large and violent whirlpool
• Serbo-Croatian: kovìtlac — large and violent whirlpool
• Serbo-Croatian: vir — large and violent whirlpool
• Serbo-Croatian: vr̀tlog — large and violent whirlpool
• Romanian: vârtej — large and violent whirlpool
• Russian: водоворо́т (vodovorót) — large and violent whirlpool
• Slovak: vír — large and violent whirlpool
• Spanish: vorágine — large and violent whirlpool
• Swedish: malström — large and violent whirlpool
• Tagalog: alimpuyo — large and violent whirlpool
• Afrikaans: maalstroom — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Belarusian: вір (vir) — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Belarusian: водаварот (vodavarot) — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Catalan: voràgine — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Chinese Mandarin: 混亂局面 /混乱局面 (hùnluàn júmiàn) — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Dutch: maalstroom — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Finnish: kurimus — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Hungarian: forgatag — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Hungarian: kavargás — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Hungarian: örvény — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Japanese: 狂瀾怒涛 (kyōrandotō) — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Macedonian: водо́вртеж (vodóvrtež) — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Norwegian: malstrøm — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Norwegian: malstraum — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Norwegian: mælstrøm — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Polish: zamęt — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Polish: zamieszanie — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Portuguese: turbilhão — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Russian: водоворо́т (vodovorót) — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Russian: вихрь (vixrʹ) — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Serbo-Croatian: ковѝтлац — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Serbo-Croatian: вр̀тлог — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Serbo-Croatian: kovìtlac — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Serbo-Croatian: vr̀tlog — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Spanish: vorágine — chaotic or turbulent situation
• Swedish: malström — chaotic or turbulent situation