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Where does the word "machine" come from? It comes from Greek mēkhanē, passing through Latin before entering English (1540s).
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Where does the word "machine" come from? It comes from Greek mēkhanē, passing through Latin before entering English (1540s).
Machine’s story begins in Greek: mēkhanē meant “device.” Greek, from 'mēkhos', means. By ancient, the word had taken hold in Latin as machina. Used for siege engines and stage machinery. It reached English by 1540s as machine. 'machine gun' dates from the 1870s. Today, machine means an apparatus using power to do work.
- Stage 1 · Greek · ancient mēkhanē "device", Greek, from 'mēkhos', means.
- Stage 2 · Latin · ancient machina "structure, device", used for siege engines and stage machinery.
- Stage 3 · English · 1540s machine "structure", 'machine gun' dates from the 1870s.