spirograph
spirograph Lexical Profile
spirograph Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A geometric drawing device consisting of interlocking plastic gears and rings used with pens to produce intricate mathematical roulette curves (often capitalized as a trademark), or a complex spiral pattern created with such a device.
"As a child, she spent hours using a spirograph and colored pens to draw elaborate geometric mandalas."
A medical instrument used to measure and record the depth, volume, and rapidity of respiratory movements.
"The pulmonologist examined the patient's breathing patterns using a clinical spirograph."
• Rhymes for spirograph
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
In its medical sense, the word was formed in the mid-19th century from Latin 'spirare' (to breathe) and Greek '-graphos' (something written or recorded). The geometric drawing toy sense was coined independently from Greek 'speira' (coil or spiral) and '-graph', popularized as a trademark by British engineer Denys Fisher in 1965.