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involute

Syllabification: (in·vo·lute)
Pronunciation: /ˈinvəˌlo͞ot/
Definition of involute

adjective

  • 1 formal involved; intricate:the art novel has grown increasingly involute
  • 2 technical curled spirally.
  • Zoology (of a shell) having the whorls wound closely around the axis.
  • Botany (of a leaf or the cap of a fungus) rolled inward at the edges.

noun

Geometry
  • the locus of a point considered as the end of a taut string being unwound from a given curve in the plane of that curve. Compare with evolute.

verb

[no object]
  • become involute; curl up.

Origin:

mid 17th century: from Latin involutus, past participle of involvere (see involve)

involute in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of involute in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

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