Mechanicize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To equip a farm, factory, or army with machines so that human labor is replaced ; to make an activity routine and automatic, lacking individual thought or feeling
2. To supply an industry or operation with powered equipment in place of manual work ; to render a process repetitive and impersonal, as though run by a machine
3. Introducing machinery into a field of work to replace hand labor ; making conduct or thought rigid, habitual, and devoid of spontaneity

Etymology: "Mechanicize" is a dated spelling of "mechanize," so its history is the history of that verb. The root is "mechanic," which comes through Latin "mechanicus" from Greek "mēkhanikos," meaning "of machines," from "mēkhanē," "machine" or "contrivance." Mechanize itself is a derived verb, formed by adding the suffix "-ize" to the adjective "mechanic," the same pattern seen in words like "organize" and "modernize." Its first sense was practical rather than abstract: to equip something with machinery, or to make work that had been done by hand into work done by machines. The verb grew most common as industrial production expanded, and the "-ise" spelling is the British counterpart of the same word. The "-icize" form is simply an older variant that keeps the "-ic" of the adjective visible in the spelling.