Spiral
mid 16th century (as an adjective): from medieval Latin spiralis, from Latin spira ‘coil’ (see spire2).
wiktionary
From Middle French spirale, from Medieval Latin spiralis, from Latin spira, from Ancient Greek σπείρα(speíra, “wreath, coil, twist”).
etymonline
spiral (adj.)
1550s, from French spiral (16c.), from Medieval Latin spiralis "winding around a fixed center, coiling" (mid-13c.), from Latin spira "a coil, fold, twist, spiral," from Greek speira "a winding, a coil, twist, wreath, anything wound or coiled," from PIE *sper-ya-, from base *sper- (2) "to turn, twist." Related: Spirally. Spiral galaxy first attested 1913.
spiral (v.)
1726 (implied in spiraled), transitive, from spiral (n.). Intransitive use by 1834. Transferred and figurative sense by 1922. Related: Spiraling.
spiral (n.)
1650s, from spiral (adj.). U.S. football sense is from 1896. Figurative sense of "progressive movement in one direction" is by 1897. Of books, spiral-bound (adj.) is from 1937.
