# vortex

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈvɔɹtɛks/ · frequency rank #15,733

## Definitions
1. A whirlwind, whirlpool, or similarly moving matter in the form of a spiral or column.
2. Anything that involves constant violent or chaotic activity around some centre.
3. Anything that inevitably draws surrounding things into its current.
4. A supposed collection of particles of very subtle matter, endowed with a rapid rotary motion around an axis which was also the axis of a sun or planet; part of a Cartesian theory accounting for the formation of the universe, and the movements of the bodies composing it.
5. Any of numerous species of small Turbellaria belonging to Vortex and allied genera.

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin vortex. Doublet of vertex.

## Easily confused with
- **vote** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/vortex-vs-vote)
- **votes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/vortex-vs-votes)
- **voter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/vortex-vs-voter)
- **vertex** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/vertex-vs-vortex)

## Common misspellings (9)
`ovrtex`, `voretx`, `vorrtex`, `vortexx`, `vorttex`, `vortxe`, `votrex`, `vrotex`, `vvortex`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/vortex