Evolute

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Evolute \Ev"o*lute\, n. [L. evolutus unrolled, p. p. of
     evolvere. See {Evolve}.] (Geom.)
     A curve from which another curve, called the involute or
     evolvent, is described by the end of a thread gradually wound
     upon the former, or unwound from it. See {Involute}. It is
     the locus of the centers of all the circles which are


     osculatory to the given curve or evolvent.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Any curve may be an evolute, the term being applied to
           it only in its relation to the involute.
           [1913 Webster]