Sentence:  Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin "turbo", meaning "vortex", and thus the defining <WSD>property</WSD> of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An attribute or abstract quality which is characteristic of a class of objects.