Science & TechnologyGreek → English
Gyroscope
/ˈdʒaɪrəskoʊp/noun
A spinning wheel mounted so that its axis holds a fixed direction regardless of how the mount moves.
The Greek roots
γῦρος
gŷros
ring, circle
σκοπέω
skopéō
to look at, observe
Literally: “circle-viewer”
The story of the word
Léon Foucault named the instrument in 1852, and the name says what he built it for: with a fast enough rotor holding its axis steady, you can watch the earth turn under it. He had made the same point with a pendulum the year before. The device became navigational hardware within fifty years, and the Greek γῦρος, a ring, is the same word now sold wrapped in flatbread.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → French → English
- First recorded
- 1852
Same family
gyrationgyretelescopemicroscopeperiscope
In a sentence
Every phone has a gyroscope in it now, which is how it knows you turned it sideways.