helix

Other forms of helix

plural

helices

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about helix

What does helix mean?

helix means "a curve that lies on the surface of a cylinder or cone and cuts the element at a constant angle". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in helix?

helix has 2 syllables: he-lix. The stress falls on "he". In IPA it is /ˈhilɪks/.

What is another word for helix?

Close synonyms include spiral, coil, spiral, volute, whorl. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is helix a common word?

helix is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.