Etymologically
Log in

machine

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 18:46. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /məˈʃiːn/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French machine (“device, contrivance”),[2][3][4] from Latin māchina (“machine, engine; device, trick”),[2][3] from Ancient Greek μαχανά (makhaná), the Doric form of μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “device, contrivance, means”),[2][5] related to μῆχος (mêkhos, “means, expedient”).[3][4] Watkins traces it to Proto-Indo-European *magh- (“to be able, have power”), the root of may, but Beekes, cited by Etymonline, considers the Greek word isolated and Pre-Greek.[2] The French pronunciation of ch gives the English sound, while mechanic comes from the same Greek word through Latin.[6] The verb, “to make with a machine”, is from the noun;[3] an earlier Middle English verb machinen, “to plot”, came from Old French machiner.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A structure of any kind, material or immaterial: 1549,[7][3] the 1540s in Etymonline.[2] Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1545.[4]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the word was used for a military engine or siege tower (1656) and for any apparatus or appliance (1650).[7] The main modern sense, a device of moving parts for applying mechanical power, is from 1673,[7][3] and it probably grew out of those senses.[2] It came to mean an apparatus that works without the strength or skill of the workman.[2] From the 17th to the 19th century a machine could also be a vehicle, such as a stage-coach, or a ship,[2][7] and in the US from 1901 a motor car.[7] The political sense, a party organization that controls its members, is American by 1876.[2] The verb, “to make or shape with a machine”, is from 1878.[7][3] Machine gun is American English from 1870.[3]

Timeline

  • 1549 – a structure of any kind.[7][3]
  • 1650 – an apparatus or appliance.[7]
  • 1656 – a military engine.[7]
  • 1673 – a mechanical apparatus.[7][3]
  • 1687 – a vehicle.[7]
  • 1870 – machine gun.[3]
  • 1876 – a political organization.[2]
  • 1878 – verb, to make by machine.[7][3]
  • 1901 – a motor car (US).[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A device of fixed and moving parts that changes energy or force into useful work.
  2. A simple device such as a lever or pulley that changes the size or direction of a force.
  3. A computer or other automatic device; a vehicle such as a car or motorcycle.
  4. A person who acts mechanically, without thought.
  5. An organization controlled by a few, especially in politics: the party machine.

Verb

  1. To make, cut or finish with a machine.

Word family

  • machinable
  • machineless
  • machine-readable
  • antimachine
  • machinelike
  • nanomachine
  • machinate
  • machination

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Book of Word Histories, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press