Turbinate

Turbinate: A bone shaped like a top. The turbinate is a bone in the nose; it is an extension of the ethmoid bone, is situated along the side wall of the nose, and is covered by mucous membrane.

The word turbinate is related to a turbine and tornado. They are all derived from the Latin turbo meaning a whorl, eddy, or spiral shell. The turbinate in the nose was so named because it is a curled shelf of bone protruding from the lateral (side) wall of the nasal cavity.