Structures with large rotating blades powered by wind to grind grain or generate electricity; also used metaphorically as in 'tilting at windmills' meaning pursuing impossible goals.
From 'wind' (Old English 'wind,' the moving air) combined with 'mill' (Latin 'molina'). The famous phrase comes from Cervantes' 'Don Quixote' (1605), where the protagonist battles what he mistakes for giants.
Quixote's attack on windmills became the most famous literary metaphor for futile struggle—yet ironically, modern wind turbines prove that fighting windmills might not be so pointless after all.
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