Emily Dickinson Lexicon

VO-LUTE', n. [Fr. volute; It. voluta; from L. volutus, volvo.]

1. In architecture, a kind of spiral scroll, used in the Ionic and Composite capitals, of which it is a principal ornament. The number of volutes in the ionic order, is four; in the Composite, eight. There are also eight angular volutes in the Corinthian capital, accompanied with eight smaller ones, called helices. – Cyc.
2. In natural history, the proposed popular name for a genus of shells. – Say.