fusee

noun fu·see \ fyü-ˈzē \

Definition of fusee

1 : a conical spirally grooved pulley in a timepiece from which a cord or chain unwinds onto a cylinder containing the mainspring and which by its increasing diameter compensates for the lessening power of the spring

2 : a red signal flare used especially for protecting stalled trains and trucks

Origin and Etymology of fusee

borrowed from French fusée "mass of thread around a spindle, explosive fuse, rocket, fusee in a timepiece," going back to Old French fusee "mass of thread around a spindle," from fus "spindle" (going back to Latin fūsus, of obscure origin) + -ee, suffix of association or containment, going back to Late Latin -āta (going back to Latin, feminine of -ātus ³-ate)

Note: In the later Middle Ages, French fusée designated a kind of rudimentary gunpowder-filled projectile, apparently resembling thread wound around a spindle—hence the later application to fuses, fireworks, etc.

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1622

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year