mechanism

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɛk.ə.nɪz.əm/ (UK); /ˈmɛk.ə.nɪz.əm/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from New Latin mechanismus,^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “machine, instrument, device”) (see machine);^[2][5] MWU gives Late Latin mechanisma, contrivance, as the source.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The structure of a machine or the way its parts work together: 1662 in the OED, the 1660s in Etymonline;^[6][2] MWU has 1622.^[5]

Semantic evolution

A mechanical contrivance of any kind is from the 1670s.^[2] A system of parts working together like a machine, in nature or the body, is from before 1677,^[6] and the action of the parts of a musical instrument from 1825.^[6] A contrivance or artifice (1670) and mechanical action (1671) were short-lived senses.^[6] In philosophy, mechanism is the doctrine that natural processes can be explained mechanically.^[7][8] In psychology a mechanism is a habitual, often unconscious, way of reacting, as in a defence mechanism.^[7][8]

Timeline

• 1622 – first known use (MWU).^[5]
• 1662 – the structure of a machine.^[6]
• 1670s – a mechanical contrivance.^[2]
• before 1677 – a system of parts working together.^[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A machine or the arrangement of connected parts in a machine.
2. A system of parts that work together like a machine: the mechanism of the ear.
3. A process or means by which something is done: a mechanism for settling disputes.
4. (philosophy) The doctrine that natural processes are mechanical and explainable by physics and chemistry.
5. (psychology) An unconscious way of reacting, such as a defence mechanism.

Word family

• mechanismic
• antimechanism
• automechanism
• mechanist
• mechanistic
• neuromechanism
• servomechanism
• coping mechanism

Related words

• machine
• mechanic
• mechanical
• mechanize

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins