VOLU'TE, noun [Latin 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.

2. In natural history, a genus of shells.