Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Eddy \Ed"dy\, n.; pl. {Eddies}. [Prob. fr. Icel. i?a; cf. Icel.
   pref. i?- back, AS. ed-, OS. idug-, OHG. ita-; Goth. id-.]
   1. A current of air or water running back, or in a direction
      contrary to the main current.

   2. A current of water or air moving in a circular direction;
      a whirlpool.

            And smiling eddies dimpled on the main. --Dryden.

            Wheel through the air, in circling eddies play.
                                                  --Addison.

   Note: Used also adjectively; as, eddy winds. --Dryden.