mechanical

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   Operated by or relating to machines or tools.

   The factory uses a mechanical process to fill the bottles.

2. 2
   adj

   Relating to mechanics, the branch of physics about forces and motion.

   He studied mechanical engineering at university.

3. 3
   adj

   Done automatically, without thought or feeling.

   Her reply was flat and mechanical, as if she had said it a hundred times.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Mechanical, recorded from the late Middle English period, ultimately comes from Greek mēkhanikē, “machine.” Mechanical and mechanic were originally largely interchangeable and could refer to a manual worker or artisan; mechanical later specialized to mean relating to machinery or performed automatically, while mechanic came to denote a skilled worker.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-der.? Ancient Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhănḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ῐκός (-ĭkós) Ancient Greek μηχᾰνῐκός (mēkhănĭkós)bor. Latin mēchanicusder. Old French mecaniquebor. Middle English mechanic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-der.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al Middle English mechanical English mechanical From Middle English mechanical, mechanicalle, mechanycalle, equivalent to mechanic + -al.

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