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æolipyle, -pile|ˈiːəlɪpaɪl, iːˈɒlɪpaɪl|
Also eolipyle, -pile.
[a. Fr. æolipyle (16th c.) ad. L. æoli pylæ (= Gr. πύλαι) the doorway of æolus, Vitruv. i. 6, the vapour bursting from the orifice like the winds from the opened door of the cave of æolus.]
A pneumatic instrument or toy, illustrating the force with which vapour generated by heat in a closed vessel rushes out by a narrow aperture. (It is said to have been invented by Hero of Alexandria, and has had many forms and applications, but is now arranged to illustrate the reaction of the air upon the issuing stream of steam producing circular motion.)
[1611Cotgr., Eolipyles (Fr.), hollow brazen bowls, etc.] 1656tr. Hobbes's Elem. Philos. (1839) 425 Many other phenomena..as those of weather-glasses, æolipyles, wind-guns. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. I. 205 Experimental philosophers produce an artificial wind, by an instrument called an æolipile. 1857Chambers Inf. I. 388 The æolipyle is formed by a globular metallic vessel, which rests on pivots where it can revolve with perfect facility. Two tubes proceed from this ball at right angles to the pivots, shut at the extremities, but with a small aperture at the side whence steam may escape. |