eddy

Etymology

From Middle English eddy, from Old English edēa, from ed- (“turning, back, reverse”) + ēa (“water”), equivalent to ed- +‎ ea^[1].

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛd.i/
• Rhymes: -ɛdi

Noun

eddy (plural eddies)

1. A current of air or water running back, or in an opposite direction to the main current.
   • 1922, A. M. Chisholm, A Thousand a Plate

     In the bow old Dobbs fought the stream cunningly, twisting the nose into eddies and backwaters, taking advantage when he could of set of current, and when he could not, paddling doggedly, not so powerfully, perhaps, as his partner, but with equal steadiness.

2. A circular current; a whirlpool.
   • Dryden

     And smiling eddies dimpled on the main.

   • Addison

     Wheel through the air, in circling eddies play.

Verb

eddy (third-person singular simple present eddies, present participle eddying, simple past and past participle eddied)

1. (intransitive) To form an eddy; to move in, or as if in, an eddy; to move in a circle.
   • Wordsworth

     Eddying round and round they sink.

   • 1922, Sinclair Lewis, “25”, in Babbitt:

     Neither in his voiceless cabin, fragrant with planks of new-cut pine, nor along the lake, nor in the sunset clouds which presently eddied behind the lavender-misted mountains, could Babbitt find the spirit of Paul as a reassuring presence.

References

Anagrams

• dyde, dyed

Alternative forms

• äddi

Etymology

From French adieu.

Interjection

eddy

1. (informal) bye, cheers, ciao

Pronunciation

• (North Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈɛðɨ̞/
• (South Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈeːði/, /ˈɛði/

Verb

eddy

1. Obsolete form of addawa.