English▸ noun a powerful whirlpool in the sea or a river.
▪ a situation or state of confused movement or violent turmoil:
the train station was a maelstrom of crowds.
– ORIGIN late 17th century : from early modern Dutch (denoting a mythical whirlpool in the Arctic Ocean, west of Norway), from maalen ‘grind, whirl’ + stroom ‘stream’.