involute
/ˈɪnvəl(j)uːt
/adjective
1 formal Involved or intricate: the art novel has grown increasingly involute
2 technical Curled spirally.
2.1 Zoology (Of a shell) having the whorls wound closely round the axis.Most contemporary goniatitids had an involute shell with compressed whorls....
- In the Anaspidea there is a tendency for parapodia to enlarge and, together with the mantle, to enclose the fragile shell (with increasingly reduced and involute spire).
- Although no equatorial sections were recovered, the present specimens exhibit a likely involute initial stage followed by biserial, uncoiled later stage in which chambers are more flattened.
2.2 Botany (Of a leaf or the cap of a fungus) rolled inwards at the edges.They were found to comprise at least three different traits: involute leaves, early flowering, and Apetala flowers....
- Distinguishing characteristics are fully double, involute florets that are narrow and pointed.
- This mutant displayed involute leaves and early flowering, although less than clf and icu2 mutants (20 days after sowing).
noun Geometry
The locus of a point considered as the end of a taut string being unwound from a given curve in the plane of that curve. Compare with evolute.Since normals to a straight line never intersect and tangents coincide with the curve, evolutes, involutes and pedal curves are not too interesting....
- He defines evolutes and involutes of curves and, after giving some elementary properties, finds the evolutes of the cycloid and of the parabola.
- Hence a curve has a unique evolute but infinitely many involutes.
Origin
Mid 17th century: from Latin involutus, past participle of involvere (see involve).