Machine

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /məˈʃiːn/

Definitions

1. A tool or system composed of interconnected components that transforms energy into motion or work while accomplishing designated functions
2. A system of interconnected parts designed to utilize energy for performing tasks or functions while generating mechanical movement
3. A device made of parts arranged to perform mechanical tasks ; an organized structure or system designed to achieve particular outcomes

Etymology: The English word "machine" arrived as a borrowing from Middle French, which had taken it from Latin "māchina", a word meaning engine, contrivance, or device, and also stratagem or trick. Its Latin form came from a Doric Greek word, "mākhănā́", and the older Attic Greek "mēkhănḗ" carried the same sense. The root lies deep in the Greek language, where "mēkhanē" meant a clever device or a way around a problem, and the Greek word is the ancestor of the English "mechanical" as well. English already had a word for a contrivance, the Old English "searu", which meant something like skill, device, or trick. The newcomer from French gradually pushed it aside, so that "searu" no longer survives in modern English. The borrowed word kept something of its original cunning: the Latin sense of a stratagem or trick never fully disappeared, and a machine began as much an idea of ingenuity as an object.

Synonyms: device, mechanism, engine, appliance, instrument

Antonyms: human, organism, animal, person, living being