Etymograph

English

inspiral

From in- + spiral.

Formed from in- + spiral

Proto-Indo-European *h₁én ‘in’

Proto-Germanic *in ‘into’

English in-

Proto-Indo-European *sper- ‘to twist’

…

Ancient Greek σπεῖρα ‘wreath, coil, twist’

Latin spīra ‘a thing that is coiled, twisted, or wound’

Medieval Latin spiralis ‘spiraling’

Middle French spirale

English spiral

Today it means

adj Describing the paths of a pair of astronomical bodies (e.g. binary stars or black holes) that are spiralling in towards each other, losing energy to gravitational waves.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / inspiral