a device illustrating the reactive forces of a gas jet: usually a spherical vessel mounted so as to rotate and equipped with angled exit pipes from which steam within it escapes
Word origin
C17: from Latin aeolīpilae balls of Aeolus or aeolīpylae gates of Aeolus
aeolipile in American English
(iˈɑləˌpail)
noun
1.
a round vessel caused to rotate by the force of tangentially escaping steam: an earlyexample of jet propulsion
2.
a device for injecting the vapors of heated alcohol into a laboratory furnace
Also: aeolipyle, eolipile
Word origin
[1650–60; ‹ L aeolīpilae balls of aeolus, alter. of aeolīpylae gates of aeolus, equiv. to Aeolī (gen. sing. of aeolus) + pylae, pl. of pyla ‹ Gk pýlē gate]This word is first recorded in the period 1650–60. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: agency, cardholder, gas, pony, siphon