rotor

Definition

A rotating part of a mechanical device; for example, in an electric motor, generator, alternator, or pump.

Etymology

From an irregular clipping of rotator, originally in mathematics, coined by English mathematician and philosopher William Kingdon Clifford based on vector, see quotations. Doublet of rota and ruote.

Example Sentences

• "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."
• "A glider instructor, who had been in the COS area for more than 25 years, was interviewed. He stated that around 1200 on the day of the accident, he observed a rotor hit the ground with estimated wind speeds of 70 to 80 miles per hour."
• "These quantities are unit lengths measured anywhere on the axes in the positive directions. They have magnitude, direction, and position, and are thus what I have called rotors (short for rotators) to distinguish them from vectors, which have magnitude and direction but no position."

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