Etymology Dictionary

CARACOLE,  a half-turn made by a horseman.  (F.,—Span.)   'Caracol, with horsemen, is an oblique piste, or tread, traced out in semi-rounds, changing from one hand to the other, without observing a regular ground;' Bailey's Dict. ed. 2 (1731), vol. ii.—F. caracol, 'a snail; whence, faire le caracol, [for] souldiers to cast themselves into a round or ring;' Cot.   Mod. F. caracole, a gambol; introduced from Span. in the 16th cent. (Brachet).—Span. caracol, a snail, a winding stair-case, a wheeling about; caracol marino, a periwinkle.   Applied to a snail-shell from its spiral shape; the notion implied is that of 'a spiral twist,' or 'a turning round and round,' or 'a screw.'   B. Said in Mahn's Webster to be a word of Iberian origin; but it may be Celtic.   Cf. Gael. carach, meandering, whirling, circling, winding, turning; car, a twist, turn, revolution; Irish carachad, moving, carachd, motion; car, a twist, turn; see Car.