Webster's English Dictionary

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turbine

tur.bine \'t*r-b*n, -.bi-n\ n [F, fr. L turbin-, turbo top, whirlwind, 
   whirl; akin to L turbar]e to disturb : a rotary engine actuated by the 
   reaction or impulse or both of a current  of fluid (as water or steam) 
   subject to pressure and usu. made with a series of curved vanes on a 
   central rotating spindle