Machine

How to spell machine

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce machine

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does machine mean?

1. nounA piece of equipment with moving parts that uses power to perform a task.
2. verbTo shape, cut, or finish a part using a powered tool such as a lathe or mill.

Machine in a sentence

• noun

  The washing machine broke down halfway through the cycle.

• verb

  The workshop will machine the metal block down to precise tolerances.

• noun

  The factory installed a new machine to fill the bottles.

• verb

  They machine the engine parts before assembly.

Where does machine come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word travelled into English from French machine in the sixteenth century, but its deeper root is the ancient Greek mekhane (in the Doric form makhana), which meant a contrivance, a device, or a clever means of doing something. The Greeks built mekhane on the noun mekhos, meaning a means or expedient, so the very first sense was less about gears and engines and more about ingenuity and cunning. Latin borrowed the Greek term as machina, which could mean a structure, an engine of war, or a stage device, and that Latin form passed through French to reach English. The same root gives us mechanic and mechanism, and tellingly also machination, which preserves the older flavour of a scheming, crafty plot. For spelling, it helps to remember that the soft 'sh' sound in the middle is written 'ch', a French habit, and that the word ends in a silent 'e'.

How the word is built

• machin- (from Greek mekhane: device, contrivance)
• -e