Whorl in the meaning "flywheel", "a weight attached to a spindle" is attested in English from 1460.

Other meanings of "whorl" include:

• A whorl of sepals in a flower of a flowering plant
• A circle or spiral formed by leaves,etc. around the stem of a plant.
• Whorl (mollusc), a single, complete 360° turn in the spiral growth of a mollusc shell.
  • Body whorl, in a mollusc shell the most recently formed whorl of a spiral shell, terminating in the aperture.
• A type of fingerprint pattern.