English▸ noun a broad blade attached to a rotating axis or wheel which pushes or is pushed by wind or water and forms part of a machine or device such as a windmill, propeller, or turbine.
▪ the flat part on either side of the shaft of a feather.
▪ a broad, flat projecting surface designed to guide the motion of a projectile, such as a feather on an arrow or a fin on a torpedo.
– ORIGIN late Middle English: dialect variant of obsolete fane ‘banner’, of Germanic origin.