Etymologically
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mechanical

Etymology and origin of the English word mechanical

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1432
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek (μηχανικός)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /məˈkænɪkəl/ (UK); /məˈkænəkəl/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English mechanicall, formed from English mechanic + -al,[2][3][4] the base coming through Middle French mécanique and Latin mēchanicus from Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós, “of machines, inventive”).[3][5] Word Origins notes that mechanical and machine both go back to Greek mēkhanē.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Concerned with the construction of machines, or with tools and their use: 1432–50 in the OED, the early 15th century in Etymonline.[7][2] Concerned with manual work, of the nature of handicraft, is from about 1450.[7]

Semantic evolution

Etymonline notes that Cockeram's dictionary (1623) still explained mechanicall as “of or belonging to a craftsman”.[2] Worked or produced by a machine is from 1567,[7] and relating to machines from the 1570s.[2] Of persons, engaged in manual labour, of the artisan class, is from 1589, now obsolete;[7] Shakespeare's “rude mechanicals” in A Midsummer Night's Dream are such craftsmen, and Word Origins notes that mechanical and mechanic were once more or less interchangeable.[6] Of human actions, automatic or lacking spontaneity, is from about 1600,[2] and the scientific sense, relating to the forces of nature acting on bodies, from the 1620s.[2] Mechanical-minded is from 1820.[2] In printing a mechanical is a layout of type and artwork ready for making a plate.[8]

Timeline

  • 1432–50 – concerned with machines.[7]
  • c. 1450 – manual, of handicraft.[7]
  • 1567 – worked by a machine.[7]
  • 1589 – of the artisan class.[7]
  • c. 1600 – automatic, without spirit.[2]
  • 1620s – relating to physical forces.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Relating to or operated by machines or machinery.
  2. Done without thought or feeling; automatic: a mechanical response.
  3. (physics) Relating to or governed by mechanics.
  4. Skilled in using machines.

Noun

  1. (printing) A layout of type and artwork ready to be made into a printing plate.
  2. (archaic) A manual worker or craftsman.

Word family

  • mechanically
  • mechanicalness
  • electromechanical
  • hydromechanical
  • nonmechanical
  • photomechanical
  • semimechanical
  • unmechanical
  • mechanic
  • mechanics
  • mechanism
  • machine
  • machinery

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
Cite this entry

“Mechanical.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/mechanical. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·