I'm fairly certain that the non-technical sense by far predates the more narrow technical definition. It's all about context, and there was nothing here that w

I'm fairly certain that the non-technical sense by far predates the more narrow technical definition. It's all about context, and there was nothing here that would make helix more correct than spiral. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=spiral http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=spiral