windmill

Imagine a tall building with large blades turning in the wind - that is a windmill. For centuries, people used windmills to catch the power of the wind and put it to work. Most often, they were used to grind grain like wheat into flour, and in some places they were also used to pump water. Today, people sometimes call modern electricity-making machines "windmills," but the more exact word is wind turbines. Even so, the basic idea is similar: using the wind as a helpful source of power.

A windmill is a structure with blades that turn by the force of the wind. For hundreds of years, windmills have been an important part of daily life in many places. Their best-known job was grinding grain such as wheat, corn, or rye into flour. Farmers could bring their harvest to the mill, and the turning blades would drive heavy millstones that crushed the grain.

Windmills were not only used for making flour. In different times and places, they also pumped water, drained land, sawed wood, and helped with other kinds of work. Because they could use a natural force instead of human or animal strength, they became useful symbols of practical skill and clever design.

Today, many people also use the word for tall modern machines with spinning blades that make electricity. Strictly speaking, those are usually called wind turbines, not traditional windmills. They look similar, but their main purpose is different: instead of directly driving machinery like millstones or pumps, they turn a generator to produce electric power. This is why the word "windmill" can refer either to the older building used for mechanical work or, in everyday speech, to a turbine that makes electricity.

So when you hear "windmill," think first of a wind-powered structure with large turning blades, especially one used to grind grain or pump water. In casual speech, it may also refer to a wind turbine, since both use the wind and have a similar shape.