rotor

[ roh-ter ]

noun

1. Electricity. a rotating member of a machine. Compare stator ( def 1 ).
2. Aeronautics. a system of rotating airfoils, as the horizontal ones of a helicopter or of the compressor of a jet engine.
3. any of a number of tall, cylindrical devices mounted on a special ship rotor ship and rotated in such a way that the Magnus effect of wind impinging on the cylinders is used to drive and maneuver the vessel.
4. (in a self-winding watch) a weight eccentrically mounted on an arbor for keeping the mainspring wound.

rotor

/ ˈrəʊtə /

noun

1. the rotating member of a machine or device, esp the armature of a motor or generator or the rotating assembly of a turbine Compare stator
2. a device having blades radiating from a central hub that is rotated to produce thrust to lift and propel a helicopter
3. the revolving arm of the distributor of an internal-combustion engine
4. a violent rolling wave of air occurring in the lee of a mountain or hill, in which the air rotates about a horizontal axis

Word History and Origins

Origin of rotor¹

First recorded in 1873; short for rotator

Word History and Origins

Origin of rotor¹

C20: shortened form of rotator

Example Sentences

Standing 866 feet tall, the turbine only has a few feet on the Haliade-X’s height, but its rotor is the differentiator at 794 feet across.

From Singularity Hub 

It stretches 65 feet long, if you count the spinning rotors—a far-cry from the hummingbirds McCabe evoked.

From Popular-Science

He spent considerable time describing the carbon-sleeved rotors for the motor, which Musk claims is a first for a production electric motor due to the difficulty of pulling it off.

From TechCrunch

On Earth, most helicopters and drones have rotors that spin at about 400-500 revolutions per minute.

From Singularity Hub 

Those rotors are longer than what a similar vehicle would need to fly on Earth.

From Science News For Students

So serious is this heat that it can distort a major APUS engine component, the rotor shaft, and cause significant damage.

From The Daily Beast

Next he says a double rotor Chinook landed inside the compound.

From The Daily Beast

The coil represents the stationary part, the stator (Fig. 445) and the cup the rotating part, the rotor, of an induction motor.

From Project Gutenberg

The difference between the rate of rotation of the rotor and that of the magnetic field is called the "slip."

From Project Gutenberg

The rotor circuits are, therefore, closed upon themselves in normal operation.

From Project Gutenberg

For starting, a polyphase resistance completes the circuits of the rotor winding.

From Project Gutenberg

The currents in the rotor winding are induced by the action of the rotating magnetic field set up by the stator currents.

From Project Gutenberg