Etymograph

English

machine

Machine is borrowed from Middle French machine, from Latin māchina ‘contrivance, device’, from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́.

  1. Doric Greekmodernμᾱχᾰνᾱ́1mākhănā́‘machine, contrivance (Doric)’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmāchina1‘a machine, contrivance’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600machine1‘machine’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1712machine1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English machine
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1712, SUNDAY, April 21, 1712: “I am apt to think, that the changing of…”.

Lineage

  1. Doric Greekmodernμᾱχᾰνᾱ́Wiktionary, English machinemākhănā́‘machine, contrivance (Doric)’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmāchinaWiktionary, English machine‘a machine, contrivance’
  3. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600machineWiktionary, English machine‘machine’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1712machineWiktionary, English machine. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1712, SUNDAY, April 21, 1712: “I am apt to think, that the changing of…”

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Today it means

noun A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “machine”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ / machine