Word – Maelstrom

Maelstrom – Word of the Day

Meaning:

[noun]: a strong water current with a circular movement

an emotional situation that is difficult to understand or deal with and is scary

History:

In the late 17th century, two words were taken from the early Dutch – ‘maalen’ meaning whirl, grind and ‘stroom’ meaning stream. Together, they formed the word Maelstrom. The original Maelstrom is referred to the channel with dangerous tidal currents situated off Norway’s northwest coast. It was in the 19th century when this word gained its popularity in the general English vocabulary in reference to powerful, significant whirlpools or something similar. The reason was partly because of its use by writers, like Jules Verne and Edgar Allan Poe in stories that exaggerated the agitated state of the Norweigian current and transformed it into a vortex that whirls.

Usage:

1. The entire village had to be evacuated because of a sudden maelstrom. .
2. After her divorce, July was beset by a maelstrom in a way that she had to seek counselling.
3. Because of the flower variety used in the wedding decoration, the hall looked like a maelstrom of fragrance and colors.
4. Despite four traffic police directing people, the road was a maelstrom of honking vehicles.
5. While scientists were busy figuring out the damage this maelstrom could wreck in the southern hemisphere, witnesses claimed they saw a ship getting swirled into the depth of the sea.
6. The rising protests, expensiveness and poverty in the country makes me feel like we are dealing with a maelstrom of politics.