Mechanically

How to spell mechanically

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce mechanically

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does mechanically mean?

1. adverbIn an automatic way, performed by habit and without conscious thought.
2. adverbBy means of machinery, or in a way relating to machines and their mechanisms.

Mechanically in a sentence

• After years on the job she mechanically signed each form without reading it.

• The parts are mechanically assembled on a fast-moving production line.

• He nodded mechanically while his mind drifted to the weekend.

• The bridge is mechanically sound, according to the engineer's report.

Where does mechanically come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word traces back to the ancient Greek mekhane, meaning a machine, a contrivance, or a clever device for getting something done; the related word mekhanikos described anything to do with machines or ingenious construction. The Greek term passed into Latin as mechanicus and then travelled through French into English, arriving in the 1500s. From the adjective 'mechanical' English built the adverb by adding the familiar '-ly' ending, giving 'mechanically'. The original Greek sense of a clever artificial device explains why the word now covers both literal machinery and any action done in an automatic, machine-like way. The spelling trap sits in the unstressed middle: writers must remember the '-ical' before the '-ly', so it is really 'mechanical' plus 'ly', not a shortened 'mechanicly'.

How the word is built

• mechan- (from Greek mekhane: machine, contrivance)
• -ic (adjective)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb suffix)