a spiral, Pronounced (vo 'lute; rhymes with no suit, pollute, or astute) Volute is the 'trademark' or writing/pen name of A Minahan and K Minahan, the authors of this site The meaning of the word is generally, a spiral, coil, helix, whorl or scroll-shaped form It especially applies to the spirals found on Ionic capitals (tops of columns) and also Corintian and Composite capitals Sometimes it is applied to shells, especially those from the family Volutidae which are marine gastropod mollusks The word originates from French and Latin and is related to many words in modern use such as voluble (meaning fluent, talkative, flowing words- or meaning - readily turned, rolled; akin to Old English wealwain)
A spiral scroll which forms the chief feature of the Ionic capital, and which, on a much smaller scale, is a feature in the Corinthian and Composite capitals