machine (English)

Where does "machine" come from?

The English noun 'machine' was borrowed from Middle French 'machine'[1], which itself derives from Latin 'māchina'[1][2]. In Latin, the term referred broadly to a machine, engine, contrivance, device, or even a stratagem or trick[1]. Latin had borrowed the word at a very early stage from the Doric Greek form 'mākhănā́', meaning a machine or tool, which corresponds to the Attic Greek 'mēkhănḗ'[1][3]. Upon entering English, the borrowed term eventually displaced the native Old English word 'searu'[1].

Full etymology tree

• machine (English), 'A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.'
  • borrowed machine (Middle French), 'machine; device'
    • borrowed machina (Latin), 'contrivance'
      • borrowed μαχανά (makhaná) (Ancient Greek), 'Doric form of μηχᾰνή (mēkhănḗ)'

Ancestors

• machine (Middle French)
• machina (Latin)
• μαχανά (Ancient Greek)

Cognates and doublets

• μηχανή (Ancient Greek)

Descendants and derived words

• マシン (Ainu)
• məšín (Cowlitz)
• accounting machine (English)
• adding machine (English)
• antimachine (English)
• arcwall machine (English)
• ATM machine (English)
• Atwood machine (English)
• Atwood's machine (English)
• automated machine learning (English)
• automated teller machine (English)
• automatic data processing machine (English)

Sources

1. machine (English) - Wiktionary
2. machine (Middle French) - Wiktionary
3. machina (Latin) - Wiktionary

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris