Dictionary

mechanical en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• mĭ-kăn′ĭ-kəl
• /məˈkænɪkəl/ (UK)
• /məˈkænəkəl/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-der.? Ancient Greek μηχανή (mēkhanḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós)bor. Latin mēchanicusder. Old French mecaniquebor. Middle English mechanic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? 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.

Meanings

1. (archaic) Characteristic of someone who does manual labour for a living; coarse, vulgar.
   • all manner of silks were already become so vile and abject, that was any man seene to weare them, he was presently judged to be some countrie fellow, or mechanicall man. 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 43, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
   • Thy Doll, and Helen of thy noble thoughts, Is in base durance and contagious prison, Haled thither by most mechanical and dirty hand. c. 1596–1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, […]. Epilogue.”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene v]:
2. Related to mechanics (the branch of physics that deals with forces acting on matter).
   • mechanical engineering
3. Related to mechanics (the design and construction of machines).
   • mechanical dictionary
4. Done by machine.
   • mechanical task
5. Using mechanics (the design and construction of machines): being a machine.
   • mechanical arm
6. (figuratively) As if performed by a machine: lifeless, mindless, thoughtless, automatic.
   • a mechanical reply to a question
7. (of a person) Acting as if one were a machine: lifeless or mindless.
   • Edward Churchill still attended to his work in a hopeless mechanical manner like a sleep-walker who walks safely on a well-known round. But his Roman collar galled him, his cossack stifled him, his biretta was as uncomfortable as a merry-andrew's cap and bells. 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
   • The pianist was too mechanical.
8. (informal) Handy with machines.
   • Why don't you ask Joe to fix it? He's very mechanical.
9. Relating to the mechanics of a game.
   • Having the mechanical imperative of scenery improving your park rating helps motivate me, admittedly, but I still appreciate the power and potential in the toolset. 2025 February 14, Rick Lane, “Review: Planet Coaster 2”, in PC Gamer (US), number 392, pages 68-69; published online 1 November 2024:
   • the mechanical aspects of a trading card game

Forms

Deriveds

immechanical · thermomechanical · wave-mechanical · chemomechanical · mechanical engineering · mechanical game · mechanical horsepower · piezomechanical · iatromechanical · mechanicalization · mechanical bull · mechanical keyboard · electro-mechanical · physiomechanical · nano-electro-mechanical · musicomechanical · mechanical mouse · mechanical sympathy · quantum mechanical · tribomechanical · nanomechanical · macromechanical · micro-electro-mechanical · logical mechanical element · palaeomechanical · optomechanical · semimechanical · statistical mechanical · mechanical erosion · physicomechanical · elastomechanical · endomechanical · telemechanical · neuromechanical · mechanical advantage · mechanical erasure · pyromechanical · magnetomechanical · mechanicality · mechanical engineer · mechanical horse · mechanical lithosphere · geomechanical · electro-mechanical computer · electromechanical · vibromechanical · mechanical pencil · mechanical shovel · mechanical digestion · mechanical energy · mechanically · bio-mechanical · aeromechanical · pharmacomechanical · cytomechanical · nonmechanical · micromechanical · pathomechanical · mechanical splice · osmomechanical · histomechanical · mechanical stoker · mechanicalness · quantum-mechanical · poromechanical · hydromechanical · mechanical larynx · premechanical · mechanical bank · mechanicalize · unmechanical · postmechanical · morphomechanical · mechanical eraser · biomechanical · photomechanical · acoustomechanical

Relateds

mechanism · mechanics · mechanic

Translations (74)

pa ਮਸ਼ੀਨੀ (related to design and construction of machines) · lv mehānisks (physics: related to mechanics) · bg машинен (done by machine) · fi konemainen (as if performed by machine) · pt mecânico (done by machine) · id mekanis (related to design and construction of machines) · bg машинен (related to design and construction of machines) · pt mecânico (physics: related to mechanics) · be механі́чны (physics: related to mechanics) · cy peiriannol (as if performed by machine) · fi konemainen (acting as if one were a machine) · fi koneenrakennus- (related to design and construction of machines) · hu mechanikus (physics: related to mechanics) · pt mecânico (related to design and construction of machines) · eo mekanika (done by machine) · yi מעכאַניש (physics: related to mechanics) · nn maskinell (done by machine) · de mechanisch (physics: related to mechanics) · ka მექანიკური (physics: related to mechanics) · cs mechanický (using mechanics) · fi mekaaninen (acting as if one were a machine) · da mekanisk (physics: related to mechanics) · pl mechaniczny (physics: related to mechanics) · sl meháničen (physics: related to mechanics) · ar مِيكَانِيكِيّ (physics: related to mechanics) · hu mechanikai (physics: related to mechanics) · ga inneallach (done by machine) · ms mekanikal (physics: related to mechanics) · pt mecânico (using mechanics) · el μηχανικός (physics: related to mechanics) · pa ਮਸ਼ੀਨੀ (done by machine) · pt mecânico (as if performed by machine) · uk механі́чний (physics: related to mechanics) · pt mecânico (handy with machines) · ru механи́ческий (physics: related to mechanics) · fi koneellinen (done by machine) · tl sigmuin (physics: related to mechanics) · cy peiriannol (related to design and construction of machines) · nl mechanisch (physics: related to mechanics) · fr mécanique (physics: related to mechanics) · fi koneellinen (as if performed by machine) · ro mecanic (physics: related to mechanics) · id mekanis (physics: related to mechanics) · fr machinal (as if performed by machine) · sv mekanisk (physics: related to mechanics) · eo mekanika (physics: related to mechanics) · nb mekanisk (physics: related to mechanics) · fi mekaaninen (using mechanics) · yi מעכאַניש (done by machine) · ga meicniúil (physics: related to mechanics) · pt mecânico (acting as if one were a machine) · bg механи́чен (physics: related to mechanics) · id mekanis (done by machine) · cy peiriannol (done by machine) · fi mekaaninen (as if performed by machine) · ga inneallach (related to design and construction of machines) · bg механичен (using mechanics) · eo mekanika (related to design and construction of machines) · grc μηχανικός (related to design and construction of machines) · nb maskinell (done by machine) · ga meicniúil (using mechanics) · grc μηχανικός (physics: related to mechanics) · fi mekaaninen (physics: related to mechanics) · it meccanico (physics: related to mechanics) · ca mecànic (physics: related to mechanics) · gl mecánico (physics: related to mechanics) · fi kone- (related to design and construction of machines) · es mecánico (physics: related to mechanics) · eo meĥanika (physics: related to mechanics) · id mekanis (using mechanics) · bg машинален (as if performed by machine) · sk mechanický (physics: related to mechanics) · fi kätevä (handy with machines) · cs mechanický (physics: related to mechanics)

mechanical en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• mĭ-kăn′ĭ-kəl
• /məˈkænɪkəl/ (UK)
• /məˈkænəkəl/ (US)
• (US) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-der.? Ancient Greek μηχανή (mēkhanḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós)bor. Latin mēchanicusder. Old French mecaniquebor. Middle English mechanic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? 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.

Meanings

1. Manually created layout of artwork that is camera ready for photographic reproduction.
   • We'll start with a simple mechanical for a standard 7" x 10" ad, using one block of copy, some display type, and one picture. 1982, Jerry Demoney, Susan E. Meyer, Pasteups & mechanicals: a step-by-step guide to preparing art for reproduction:
   • Since we are dealing with copy in paste-up form, we are now concerned with the preparation and assembly of elements suitable for camera-ready copy, positioned on the mechanical according to the rough layout supplied. 1980, Henry C. Latimer, Production planning and repro mechanicals for offset printing, page 92:
   • In order to produce the posters, the advertising agency purchases photographs, composition and artwork and fabricates such property to produce layouts and mechanicals. 2009, New York State Sales and Use Tax Law and Regulations:
2. One who does manual labor, especially one who is similar to Shakespeare's rude mechanicals.
   • Rude mechanicals must know their place in a horsey army. 1989, A J Smithers, Rude Mechanicals: An account of Tank Maturity during the Second World War, →ISBN, page 3:
   • Furthermore, when the play juxtaposes aristocratic violence with artisanal civility, it shows the artisans as the social group that better embodies civility, and the mocking accusations of bestial inferiority leveled at the mechanicals by the aristrocratic characters are revealed as a hollow discourse that attempts to bolster and naturalize established privilege. 2011, Ronda Arab, Manly Mechanicals on the Early Modern English Stage, →ISBN:
   • Zoe could not believe her eyes: this man looked nothing like the Uncle Max of her memories and nightmares; this chubby old man looked like a dwarfed bon vivant, a lecherous Santa Klaus, a comical figure in an opera, a "mechanical" from a Shakespeare play. 2011, Max Milano, The Mechanicals of Recoleta, →ISBN, page 198:
3. A robot or mechanical creature.
   • Mechanicals arose when advanced, organic societies somehow committed suicide, from war, degeneration, unimaginable things -- or retreated, from plain simple lack of interest in the tensions of the technological life. 2013, Gregory Benford, Sailing Bright Eternity: Galactic Centre, →ISBN:
   • This is an example of what can take place when mechanicals are programmed with human attributes and designed to interact closely with humans. 2013, Alan Dean Foster, Greenthieves, →ISBN:
   • Is it a mechanical, or a man in a clockwork suit? 2012, Cindy Spencer Pape, Moonlight & Mechanicals, →ISBN, page 90:
4. A mechanical engineer.
   • "I don't need a clerk," he said. "What I need is more engineers, mechanicals, especially." 2012, Allan Young, The Return of the Prairie Rose, →ISBN, page 4:
   • A membership campaign was carried on early in the year and quite a number of the new mechanicals were reached, as well as a number of the old men who had slipped by the wayside. 1920, The Kansas Engineer - Issues 6-8, page 24:
   • When the older courses had been separated from the literary curriculum eight years the civils, mechanicals and electricals had changed their relative positions four times. 1910, Michigan Alumnus - Volume 16, page 302:
5. An instance of equipment failure.
   • The support can be there when you need it for major mechanicals, other emergencies and to transport all your gear to the next overnight stop. 2014, Vince Major, The Smoke Ring - An Orbital Route Around London, →ISBN, page 12:
   • Equipment back then was less capable than it is today, and we often had to deal with mechanical failures, also called mechanicals and the odd injury which we called 'bio-mechanicals'. 2012, Clive Forth, The Pocket Mountain Bike Trail Guide: Your slope saviour, →ISBN, page 11:
   • The pack are suffering mechanicals and pull up under a lamp post marking a right turn. 2010, Andy Allsopp, Barring Mechanicals - from London to Edinburgh and Back, on a Recumbent Bicycle, →ISBN, page 96:
6. A stop on an organ that is operated by a hand or foot control rather than having to be manually set up in advance.
   • Mechanicals within the organ need repair; the tonal resources and much of the voicing might well be expanded and updated. 1961, Thomas Scott Godfrey Burhrman, The American Organist - Volume 44, page 16:
   • Some would like the smallest number of foot mechanicals and the greatest number of hand mechanicals; some would like to do away with the crescendo pedal; some would prefer less diapason foundation; others would want a predominance of salty reeds ; 1911, The New Music Review and Church Music Review:
   • On the other hand I heard only recently of a modern marvel — an organ of two manuals and about sixteen or eighteen stops with adequate and modern mechanicals that the pastor assures me has not been touched by repairer or even by tuner in four years! 1914, Expositor and Current Anecdotes - Volume 16, page 353:
7. (archaic) A machine that performs a job typically accomplished using an animal or manual labor.
   • Above all things, I liked to hear about horseless carriages and self-powered mechanicals, but I'd settle for ghosts at a pinch. 2014, Delia Sherman, Young Woman in a Garden: Stories, →ISBN:
   • The laws had yet to catch up to this new world where blacksmiths could put out steam-driven mechanicals and the new industry raised country merchants to the big houses. 2015, Margaret McGaffey Fisk, Safe Haven: The Steamship Chronicles, →ISBN:
   • Roland jumped on the horse and with herculean strength picked her up one armed and plopped her down in front of him. “I've had my fill of mechanicals of late. Hold on.” 2012, Lyn Brittan, Of Magic and Engineering, →ISBN:

Forms

Synonyms

pasteup (camera-ready artwork)