Whirligig
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Whirligig (disambiguation).
A whirligig is an object that spins or whirls, or has at least one member that spins or whirls in the wind.
The word, derived from the verb to whirl, is known in English since 1440, originally for various spinning toys.[1]
In ancient times, a whirligig was also a spinning punitive or torture contraption comprising a suspended cage-like device; see Whirligig (torture).[2]
Modern whirligigs are generally decorative and entertaining, such as lawn ornaments and wind-powered hanging art. Whirligig discs are simple spinning toys (most readily made from cotton thread and a button) whereby two looped ends of twisting thread are pulled with both arms, causing the disc (or button) to spin.
Whirligig is also a book by Paul Fleischman.
[edit] References
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- ^ The Oxford English Dictionary cites the 1440 Promptorium Parvulorum, the first English-Latin Dictionary, which contains the definition, "Whyrlegyge, chyldys game, giraculum."
- ^ Getchwood Curious punishments.
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