Millwheels

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Large wheels turned by flowing water or wind that drive the machinery of grain mills and other works
2. Waterwheels or wind-driven wheels used in old factories and farms to power grinding and milling machinery
3. Huge rotating wheels powered by a stream or breeze that once supplied the energy for milling grain and similar tasks

Etymology: The plural of "millwheel" is simply "millwheels," so the story is really that of the compound itself. Its oldest form appears in Old English as "mylenhwēol," built from "mylen," meaning mill, and "hwēol," meaning wheel. The two parts have stayed largely intact through the centuries, passing into Middle English as "milnewhel" before settling into the modern spelling. The first element traces back further than the English word for mill. It descends from a Late Latin "molīnabor," a building housing a "molīnus," which came from the Latin "molīnus" (a mill), itself related to "molō" (to grind). The word reached the Germanic languages early, which is how the Old English "mylen" arrived, so the grinding idea sits at the heart of the compound.

Synonyms: waterwheel