involute

An adjective describing something that is intricate, complex, or curled inward; now largely obsolete in common usage.

• 🇫🇷Adjectif décrivant quelque chose de compliqué, embrouillé ou enroulé vers l'intérieur ; en grande partie désuet dans l'usage courant aujourd'hui.

1. Rolled inward (botany) C2 formal scientific

   Describes petals or leaves in bud that have their margins rolled inward toward the upper surface.

   • The involute leaves of the rose are tightly curled in the bud.
   • Botanists noted the involute margins of the young fern fronds.
   • Involute petals are common in many species of the Rosaceae family.

   🇫🇷Involuté (botanique)

   Synonymes: incurved

2. Closely coiled (malacology) C2 formal scientific

   Describes the shell of some mollusks, such as certain gastropods, where the whorls are tightly coiled, often obscuring the central axis.

   • The shell of the nautilus is an example of an involute structure.
   • Involute shells are often found in fossilized cephalopods.
   • The tightly coiled, involute form of the shell makes it difficult to see the spire.

   🇫🇷Enroulé serré

   Antonymes: uncoiled

• more involute comparative form
• most involute superlative form