turbine

Etymology

Borrowed from French turbine, from Latin turbō, turbinem (“tornado, whirlwind; crowd”).

noun

1. Any of various rotary machines that use the kinetic energy of a continuous stream of fluid (a liquid or a gas) to turn a shaft.
   Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work. 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist