Unmechanize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make a process or system less mechanical by removing machinery or automation
2. To reverse the use of machines in an activity, returning it to manual or less automated operation
3. To eliminate mechanized elements from a task or system, restoring human or manual methods

Etymology: "Unmechanize" is a straightforward formation: the prefix "un-", meaning "reverse" or "remove," attached to "mechanize." That verb in turn comes from "mechanic," which entered English from Latin "mechanicus" and Greek "mēchanikos," meaning "of machines," from "mēchanē," a contrivance or device. So "mechanize" meant, at root, to make something a matter of machines, and "unmechanize" simply reverses that: taking the machinery back out of a process.