A windmill is a structure that converts wind power into rotational energy using vanes called sails or blades, by tradition specifically to mill grain (gristmills), but in some parts of the English-speaking world, the term has also been extended to encompass windpumps, wind turbines, and other applications. The term wind engine is also sometimes used to describe such devices.[1][failed verification]
Windmills were used throughout the high medieval and early modern periods; the horizontal or panemone windmill first appeared in Persia during the 9th century, and the vertical windmill first appeared in northwestern Europe in the 12th century.[2][3] Regarded as an icon of Dutch culture,[4] there are approximately 1,000 windmills in the Netherlands today.[5]
- ^ "Windmill". Merriam-webster.com. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2013. "a mill or machine operated by the wind usually acting on oblique vanes or sails that radiate from a horizontal shaft, especially: (a) wind-driven water pump or electric generator, (b) the wind-driven wheel of a windmill".
- ^ Glick, Thomas F., Steven Livesey, and Faith Wallis. Medieval science, technology, and medicine: an encyclopedia. Routledge, 2014, 519.
- ^ Geography, Landscape and Mills. Pennsylvania State University.
- ^ Ahmed, Shamim (10 July 2015). "Amsterdam • Venice of the North". theindependentbd.com. The Independent. Archived from the original on 15 June 2022. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
- ^ "The Dutch windmill making artisanal bread". BBC. Retrieved 8 February 2021.