Whorl

имя существительное 1) завиток, завитушка; изгиб Например: They identified a criminal by the whorls of his fingerprints. — Они установили личность преступника по отпечаткам пальцев. 2) [ботаника] кольцо листьев (вокруг стебля); мутовка 3) [текстильное дело] блок веретена

Большой англо-русский словарь

Whorl

noun Etymology: Middle English wharle, whorle, probably alteration of whirle, from whirlen to whirl 1. a drum-shaped section on the lower part of a spindle in spinning or weaving machinery serving as a pulley for the tape drive that rotates the spindle 2. an arrangement of similar anatomical parts (as leaves) in a circle around a point on an axis 3. something that whirls, coils, or spirals or whose form suggests such movement; swirl Example: whorls of snow 4. one of the turns of a univalve shell 5. a fingerprint in which the central papillary ridges turn through at least one complete circle

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary