macchina Italian · revision 37715

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=after 1298, Questioni filosofiche|origins=grc μαχανά}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmak.ki.na/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''macchina''' ''f'' (plural macchine)^(Wiktionary)

+ The old spelling was ''machina''.^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Treccani 2011)^(TLIO)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a learned word, [[bor|la|machina|t=machine, device, contrivance]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wiktionary) The Latin noun is a very early borrowing of [[grc|μαχανά|tr=makhaná|t=means, contrivance, machine]], the Doric form;^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) Attic has [[m|grc|μηχανή|tr=mēkhanḗ]].^(DELI 1999)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto–Oli 2026) In Doric it named many devices of building, war and transport, and Lucretius could speak of the ⟨machina mundi⟩, the machinery of the world.^(DELI 1999) The change of the Greek /a/ to /i/ in the middle of the Latin word shows how early the borrowing was.^(Devoto 1968|265)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The double /kk/ is the usual doubling after the first vowel of a word stressed on the third syllable from the end.^(DELI 1999)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Devoto 1968) The same Latin word, inherited, gave [[macina]] “millstone”, and [[meccanico]] comes from the Greek adjective by a later route.^(Wiktionary)^(Nocentini 2010)^(Devoto 1968|265) The word is [[fr|machine]], recorded from the 14th century, [[es|máquina]] and [[pt|máquina]].^(DEI|2298)^(Nocentini 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLIO's first record is in the ''Questioni filosofiche'', written in south-western Tuscany after 1298.^(TLIO) 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.^(TLIO)

+

+ ==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.^(DELI 1999) 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.^(DELI 1999) In 1771 a person who acts mechanically is called a ''macchina''.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ 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.^(DELI 1999) Calques include ''macchina infernale'' “bomb”, from French ''machine infernale'', and ''macchina elettorale'', from the American ''electoral machine''.^(DEI|2298) The Italian word passed into Ottoman Turkish, whence Turkish ''makine'' and ''makina'', and into Amharic.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * After 1298 – The ''Questioni filosofiche'' are the first record.^(TLIO)

+ * Before 1497 – Antonio Manetti uses ''macchina'' for any mechanical device.^(DELI 1999)^(GRADIT 2003)

+ * 1592 – A. Giorgi defines the machine as a system of parts.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1714 – ''Macchina'' names a processional float.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1771 – The word is used for a person acting mechanically.^(DELI 1999)

+ * 1918 – Panzini records ''macchina'' “car”.^(DELI 1999)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|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”.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Devoto–Oli 2026)^(Zingarelli 2010)

+ # ''(nautical, often plural)'' The engines of a ship.^(GRADIT 2003)

+ # A motor vehicle; by antonomasia the [[m|en|car]]; also a locomotive: ''Ho lasciato la macchina in garage.''^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A person who works or acts mechanically, without thinking.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A complex organization: ''la macchina organizzativa del festival''.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Sabatini–Coletti 2026)

+ # A decorated structure on which a saint's statue is carried in procession.^(GRADIT 2003)^(DELI 1999)

+ # ''(computing)'' A computer.^(GRADIT 2003)^(Wikizionario)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[macchinario]]

+ * [[macchinista]]

+ * [[macchinetta]]

+ * [[macchinismo]]

+ * [[macchinale]]

+ * [[macchinina]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[macchinare]]

+ * [[macchinatore]]

+ * [[macchinazione]]

+ * [[macchinoso]]

+ * [[meccanico]]

+ * [[macina]]

+ * [[la|machina]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}