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macchina

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Etymology and origin of the Italian word macchina

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
after 1298, Questioni filosofiche
Borrowed from
Latin machina
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek μαχανά
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin machina
French machine
Italian macchina
From the same root
Latin machinor ← machina

Pronunciation

  • /ˈmak.ki.na/[1]

Forms

macchina f (plural macchine)[1] The old spelling was machina.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin machina (“machine, device, contrivance”).[5][6][7][1] The Latin noun is a very early borrowing of Ancient Greek μαχανά (makhaná, “means, contrivance, machine”), the Doric form;[5][6][2] Attic has μηχανή (mēkhanḗ).[5][6][2] In Doric it named many devices of building, war and transport, and Lucretius could speak of the ⟨machina mundi⟩, the machinery of the world.[5] The change of the Greek /a/ to /i/ in the middle of the Latin word shows how early the borrowing was.[8][1]

The double /kk/ is the usual doubling after the first vowel of a word stressed on the third syllable from the end.[5][9][10] The same Latin word, inherited, gave macina “millstone”, and meccanico comes from the Greek adjective by a later route.[1][6][8] The word is French machine, recorded from the 14th century, Spanish máquina and Portuguese máquina.[11][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's first record is in the Questioni filosofiche, written in south-western Tuscany after 1298.[4] In Old Italian the word named a mechanical device built to do a task, a siege engine, and in philosophy the macchina del mondo, the frame of the universe.[4]

Semantic evolution

DELI records “any instrument that does work mechanically” before 1497 in Antonio Manetti's life of Brunelleschi, and the definition of a machine as a system of fixed and moving parts in 1592.[5] The figurative sense “complex organism” appears in the 15th century, and in 1714 macchina is the decorated frame on which a saint's statue is carried in procession.[5] In 1771 a person who acts mechanically is called a macchina.[5]

By antonomasia it came to mean the car: Panzini records this in 1918, and in 1931 he notes that the word had first meant the bicycle and that macchina for car, though nearly universal, was an improper use.[5] Calques include macchina infernale “bomb”, from French machine infernale, and macchina elettorale, from the American electoral machine.[11] The Italian word passed into Ottoman Turkish, whence Turkish makine and makina, and into Amharic.[1]

Timeline

  • After 1298 – The Questioni filosofiche are the first record.[4]
  • Before 1497 – Antonio Manetti uses macchina for any mechanical device.[5][7]
  • 1592 – A. Giorgi defines the machine as a system of parts.[5]
  • 1714 – Macchina names a processional float.[5]
  • 1771 – The word is used for a person acting mechanically.[5]
  • 1918 – Panzini records macchina “car”.[5]

Meanings

Noun

  1. machine, a device of connected parts that transforms or transmits energy or does a task, macchina da scrivere “typewriter”, macchina da cucire “sewing machine”, macchina fotografica “camera”.[7][2][12]
  2. (nautical, often plural) The engines of a ship.[7]
  3. A motor vehicle; by antonomasia the car; also a locomotive: Ho lasciato la macchina in garage.[7][9][1]
  4. (figurative) A person who works or acts mechanically, without thinking.[7][9][5]
  5. (figurative) A complex organization: la macchina organizzativa del festival.[7][9]
  6. A decorated structure on which a saint's statue is carried in procession.[7][5]
  7. (computing) A computer.[7][13]

Word family

  • macchinario
  • macchinista
  • macchinetta
  • macchinismo
  • macchinale
  • macchinina
  • macchinare
  • macchinatore
  • macchinazione
  • macchinoso
  • meccanico
  • macina
  • Latin machina

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  3. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  4. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  6. ^ a b c d e Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 265
  9. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  10. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
  11. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 2298
  12. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  13. ^ Wikizionario (Italian Wiktionary), it.wiktionary.org

Related etymologies

  • no · also from Latin
  • cosa · also from Latin
  • a · also from Latin
  • mio · also from Latin
  • uno · also from Latin
  • si · also from Latin
  • sapere · also from Latin
  • fare · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Macchina.” Etymologically, 21 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/it/macchina. Accessed 22 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·