gyroscope

Meaning

Noun

• an apparatus composed of a wheel which spins inside of a frame (gimbal) and causes the balancing of the frame in any direction or position. In the form of a gyroscopic stabilizer, used to help keep aircraft and ships steady.

Origin

• Borrowed from French gyroscope, coined in 1852 by physicist Leon Foucault, equivalent to gyro- + -scope, from Ancient Greek γῦρος ("circle") and σκοπός.