Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tourbillon

/ˌtʊə(ɹ)bɪˈjɒn/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.88 in modern English

Syllables: tour-bil-lon
IPA: /ˌtʊə(ɹ)bɪˈjɒn/

12

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

3

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A rotating frame, containing the escapement of a clock or watch, that significantly compensates for the effects of gravity.

noun

noun

A kind of firework that gyrates in the air.

noun

Any part of a machine with a spiral movement.

Example Sentences

"Time was vulnerable to the force of gravity. So Breguet came up with the tourbillon, which isolated the balance wheel and escarpment off on a little platform of their own, geared to the third wheel, rotating about once a minute, assuming in the course of the day most positions in 3-D space relative to the gravity of the Earth, so the errors would cancel out and make time impervious to gravity."
"In their final year, each student must make their own watch with a complication—from a tourbillon to a chiming mode to having a date display."

Etymology

Etymology tree Old French torbeil French -on French tourbillonbor. English tourbillon Borrowed from French tourbillon (“whirlwind”).

Inflected Forms

tourbillons (plural)

Questions

How do you pronounce tourbillon?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˌtʊə(ɹ)bɪˈjɒn/.
What does tourbillon mean?: A rotating frame, containing the escapement of a clock or watch, that significantly compensates for the effects of gravity.
Where does tourbillon come from?: Etymology tree Old French torbeil French -on French tourbillonbor. English tourbillon Borrowed from French tourbillon (“whirlwind”).

How to pronounce tourbillon

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tourbillon”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌtʊə(ɹ)bɪˈjɒn/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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Repeat and practice — Say “tourbillon” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.