"die Maschine ist im Eimer" is something "old" people like myself would happily say about the, well, engine of a car that broke. Maschinenschaden. broken engine.
which unless specified otherwise boils down to locomotive...
the two languages are so similar yet different. what amazed me the most was that in English speaking countries they learn beautiful English words, famose worte of sorts.
Power plant would be elektrownia. The suffix -nik is a common one that one can append to almost any noun to indicate that something or someone doing something, e.g. robot, robotnik (worker). So silnik translates to motor/engine, not powerplant.
In English, you can use the word powerplant in a more abstract sense, e.g., to refer to the engine or motor of a car. It doesn’t only specifically mean the large industrial building which generates electricity, as I believe elektrownia does.
I think your note about the -nik suffix is congruent with my point. A silnik is a thing that is doing/making siła.
To clarify, I’m perfectly aware that if I tell someone in Poland that I have a problem with my silnik, I’m referring to the engine in my vehicle. But in this discussion here, I’m talking about the most direct translation.
As someone fluent in both English and Polish (being my native language), I cannot see how silnik and a fixed place where power is generated, specifically connected to a network where that power is put out (i.e. powerplant) have anything in common.
The only direct translation of the word is really just engine/motor, one can often use the word motor to mean silnik as well.
That seems more like a typo than anything, in Formula jargon the engine is called a "power unit" not plant, not to mention that that a plant is generally a place of industry and not a object (e.g., nuclear plant ...).
In either case, calling a "silnik" a "powerplant" is a very large stretch, where as a "powerunit" would be a more accurate translation since it has the same meaning as a engine/motor.
> Porsche has developed a hydrogen powerplant prototype that can be installed in luxury sports cars and perform as well as a 4.4-liter, eight-cylinder petrol engine
I don't see how quoting random articles proves either or, specially when it comes to specific jargon in a sport or even the original topic here wrt. engine vs. motor.
> This article gives an outline of Formula One engines, also called Formula One power units since the hybrid era starting in 2014. Since its inception in 1947, Formula One has used a variety of engine regulations. Formulae limiting engine capacity had been used in Grand Prix racing on a regular basis since after World War I. The engine formulae are divided according to era.
Quoting random articles should prove the point that the author of that page on the F1 website did not in fact make a typo, as you suggested. The word powerplant is used — fairly commonly, both written and spoken — in motoring journalism in place of the word engine or motor.
I don't find your arguments convincing, for the logical holes I've spotted. I don't think you find my arguments convincing either, so I guess we'll leave it at that.
