also: みずぐるま
water wheel
A wheel turned by flowing water, used historically for milling, irrigation, or power generation.
昔の村では水車で粉をひいていた。
In the old village, they ground flour using a water wheel.
water turbine; hydraulic turbine
A modern device that converts the energy of flowing water into rotational motion, often for generating electricity. The reading すいしゃ is especially common for this sense.
この発電所では大型の水車が使われている。
Large water turbines are used at this power plant.
violent wielding of weapons
Only with reading みずぐるま
Archaic sense, restricted to the reading みずぐるま. Refers to swinging a weapon around wildly, like a water wheel spinning. Not used in modern Japanese.
古文書に「水車」とあり、刀を振り回すさまを表すと注釈されている。
In an old document, 水車 is annotated as describing the act of brandishing a sword.
The water wheel is slowly turning beside the river.
Long ago, wheat was ground here using this water wheel.
This facility generates electricity using a water turbine.
水力 refers abstractly to the power or energy of moving water, while 水車 is the physical wheel or turbine device that harnesses that power.
For machines, appliances, vehicles, and mounted equipment.
Used for installed or mounted objects; for a water wheel, 台 is more common in everyday counting.
tender (railway)
water wagon; water tender
water mill; watermill
axial flow turbine
reversible pump-turbine
Standard kanji form; the most common reading is すいしゃ.
Archaic reading for the obsolete weapon-wielding sense; not used for modern water-wheel meanings.
Compound of 水 (water) and 車 (wheel). The reading すいしゃ is the standard Sino-Japanese on'yomi; みずぐるま is a native kun'yomi reading now largely obsolete except in historical contexts.