- maelstrom
- 1682 (Hakluyt has Malestrand, c.1560), "whirlpool off the northwest coast of Norway," from Dan. malstrøm (1673), from Du. Maelstrom, lit. "grinding-stream," from malen "to grind" (see meal) + stroom "stream" (see stream). Name given by Du. cartographers (e.g. Mercator, 1595). Perhaps originally from Færoic mal(u)streymur. Popularized as a synonym for "whirlpool" c.1841.