发电机

• Pinyin: fā diàn jī
• Hanzi breakdown: 发 = 弓 + 殳 — to emit, release; 电 = 雨 (rain) + 申 (lightning bolt) — lightning, electricity; 机 = 木 (wood) + 几 (small table/frame) — machine, mechanism

Meaning

Generator; dynamo. A machine that converts mechanical energy into electrical energy.

Used in engineering, industrial, and everyday contexts to refer to electrical generators. Can be metaphorical for a person or institution that is the driving force behind productivity or innovation.

Examples

1. 山区医院配备了一台大功率柴油发电机，以确保停电时手术室能够正常运转。 The hospital in the mountainous area is equipped with a high-power diesel generator to ensure the operating room can function normally during power outages.
2. 这座风力发电站的核心设备是一组高效的永磁同步发电机，年发电量超过两亿千瓦时。 The core equipment of this wind power plant is a set of high-efficiency permanent-magnet synchronous generators, producing more than 200 million kilowatt-hours of electricity each year.
3. 在那个偏远的科考站，一台老旧的发电机是全体队员赖以维系通讯与照明的唯一能源来源。 At that remote research station, an old generator was the only source of power the entire team depended on to maintain communications and lighting.

Usage Guide

Context: engineering, industry, infrastructure

Tone: neutral

Do Say

• 施工现场的临时供电完全依赖一台租借来的移动发电机，承包商每天都需要检查其燃油储量以防断电。(The temporary power supply at the construction site relied entirely on a rented mobile generator; the contractor needed to check its fuel level every day to prevent outages.)
• 作为城市备用电力系统的核心，这批新型发电机能够在主电网发生故障后的三秒内自动启动，为医院和数据中心等关键设施提供不间断供电。(As the core of the city's backup power system, these new generators can start automatically within three seconds of a main grid failure, providing uninterrupted power to critical facilities such as hospitals and data centres.)

Don't Say

• 发电机坏了电没了 — too colloquial and imprecise for formal contexts; say 发电机发生故障导致供电中断 for technical or official communication

Origin & History

发 (to generate/emit) + 电 (electricity) + 机 (machine) — a machine that generates electricity

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal