Dictionary

dea ex machina en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˌdɪə ɛks ˈmakɪnə/ (UK)

Etymology

An alteration of Latin deus ex māchinā in English, substituting the masculine or epicene deus (“god”) with the feminine dea (“goddess”).

Meanings

1. A female deus ex machina; a providential intervention (in a story etc.) from a female force or character.
   • That's the end of her story—the Cinderella path—but it's not the end of her life, which is just as well, because the poor little rat-boy ends up in desperate need of a dea ex machina in order to save him from the terrible fate towards which the path of his story seems to be taking him. 1999, Philip Pullman, “The Path Through the Wood”, in Daemon Voices, Vintage, published 2017, page 79:

Forms

Relateds

deus ex machina