Dictionary

mechanism en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈmɛk.ə.nɪ.zəm/ (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈmek.ə.nɪ.zəm/ (Australia)
• [ˈmɛk.ə.nɪ.zm̩] (Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio
• [ˈmek.əˌnɪ.zm̩] (Australia)

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-der.? Ancient Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhănḗ)der. New Latin mechanismuslbor. English mechanism Learned borrowing from New Latin mechanismus.

Meanings

1. (countable, qualifier:within a machine or machinery, uncountable) Any mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion, or the transmission or control of power.
2. (countable, uncountable) Any combination of cams, gears, links, belts, chains and logical mechanical elements.
   • A doorknob of whatever roundish shape is effectively a continuum of levers, with the axis of the latching mechanism—known as the spindle—being the fulcrum about which the turning takes place. 2012 March 14, Henry Petroski, “Opening Doors”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, pages 112–3:
3. (countable, uncountable) A group of entities, such as objects, that interact together.
   • Whatever the mechanism, attempts to starve the beast through revenue shortages somehow seem to make the beast all the more voracious. 2010 February 22, Catherine Rampell, “A New Social Contract, but Which One?”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 Oct 2021:
   • Outside the boundaries of the PTEs [Passenger Transport Executives], there was little mechanism to re-open routes, and despite a growing realisation that the lack of transport connectivity was a big contributor towards social deprivation and poor economic performance, there was little government policy recognition. 2023 March 22, 'Industry Insider', “Restoring Your Railway”, in RAIL, number 979, page 68:
   • A very rare polymorphism in the prion protein gene recently has been identified that appears to protect against prion disease; this finding, in addition to providing greater understanding of the prionlike mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders, might lead to potential treatments. 2015 December 21, Michael D. Geschwind, “Prion Diseases”, in Continuum (Minneap Minn), →DOI:
   • A site that carried [sexually explicit] material, but that gated it off from children through credit cards or other mechanisms to verify the age of the user, would have an acceptable defense under the act. 1999 February 1, Pamela Mendels, “Judge Delays Online Pornography Law”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2022:
4. (countable, uncountable) A mental, physical, or chemical process.
5. (countable, uncountable) Any process of, or system designed to manage useful energy conversion.
6. (countable, uncountable) The theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes.

Forms

Deriveds

mechanism of death · servo-mechanism · antimechanism · mechanist · Grotthuss mechanism · nanomechanism · automechanism · micromechanism · Geneva mechanism · Penrose mechanism · Anderson-Higgs mechanism · neuromechanism · defence mechanism · control mechanism · Higgs mechanism · coping mechanism · key encapsulation mechanism · cryptomechanism · immunomechanism · servomechanism · defense mechanism · flintlock mechanism · Brout-Englert-Higgs mechanism · pyromechanism · pathomechanism · mechanistic · telemechanism · GZK mechanism · mechanismic · Greisen-Zatsepin-Kuzmin mechanism · biomechanism · reaction mechanism · submechanism

Descendants

mecanism

Relateds

machine

Synonyms

mechanicism

Translations (114)

bg механи́зъм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · sv mekanism (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · lv mehānisms (mental, chemical, or physical process) · my စက်ကိရိယာ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · it meccanismo (mental, chemical, or physical process) · he מַנְגָּנוֹן (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · pl mechanizm (combination of machine elements) · da mekanisme (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · tg механизм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · hi यंत्रावली (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ja 仕組み (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ar آلِيَّة (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · th กลไก (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ro mecanism (mental, chemical, or physical process) · lo ຍົນ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fi koneisto (group of entities that interact together) · fi koneisto (process of, or system designed to manage useful energy conversion) · tk mehanizm (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · sk mechanizmus (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fi koneisto (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · pl mechanizm (group of entities that interact together) · fi mekanismi (philosophy: theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes) · hi मेकैनिज़्म (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · my ကိရိယာ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · te యంత్రాంగం (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · th ยนต์ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ca mecanisme (mental, chemical, or physical process) · pl mechanizm (mental, chemical, or physical process) · cmn 機構 /机构 (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fr mécanisme (mental, chemical, or physical process) · is vélhyggja (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · uz mexanizm (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · uk механі́зм (mental, chemical, or physical process) · lo ເຄື່ອງ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ky механизм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fr mécanisme (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · cmn 機理 /机理 (mental, chemical, or physical process) · ms mekanisme (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fa-ira سازوکار (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ka მექანიზმი (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · mk механи́зам (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · sl mehanizem (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · el μηχανισμός (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · hu mechanizmus (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ja 絡繰り (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · bg механи́зъм (mental, chemical, or physical process) · tl sigmuan (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · gl mecanismo (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · de Mechanismus (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ja 絡繰り (mental, chemical, or physical process) · th เครื่อง (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · bn যন্ত্রকৌশল (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · sq mekanizëm (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · es mecanicismo (philosophy: theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes) · tt механизм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fa-ira مِکانیزْم (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · hi तंत्र (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · be механі́зм (mental, chemical, or physical process) · uk механі́зм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · lo ກົນໄກ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · pt mecanismo (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fi mekanismi (mental, chemical, or physical process) · km យន្តម័យ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · eo meĥanismo (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · kk механизм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · eo mekanismo (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · la māchina (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · vi máy móc (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · vi bộ máy (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fi järjestelmä (process of, or system designed to manage useful energy conversion) · lt mechanizmas (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · es mecanismo (mental, chemical, or physical process) · ja 仕組み (mental, chemical, or physical process) · io mekanismo (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fi mekanismi (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ja メカニズム (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · tr mekanizma (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ur میکانِزْم (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · sv mekanism (mental, chemical, or physical process) · pl mechanizm (process of, or system designed to manage useful energy conversion) · cs mechanismus (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · mn механизм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · pl mechanizm (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · my ယန္တရား (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · km យន្ត (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · sh mehanìzam (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ja 機構 (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ro mecanism (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · nl mechanisme (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ja 機構 (mental, chemical, or physical process) · nb mekanisme (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · is gangverk (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · az mexanizm (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ca mecanisme (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fa-ira ساز و کار (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · cmn 機械 /机械 (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · km គ្រឿង (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · el μηχανισμός (mental, chemical, or physical process) · ru механи́зм (mental, chemical, or physical process) · cmn 機制 /机制 (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · sh механѝзам (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · et mehhanism (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · pl mechanicyzm (philosophy: theory that all natural phenomena can be explained by physical causes) · it meccanismo (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fi koneisto (combination of machine elements) · ko 메커니즘 (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · lv mehānisms (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · fi mekanismi (process of, or system designed to manage useful energy conversion) · hy մեխանիզմ (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ko 기구 (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · ru механи́зм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · es mecanismo (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · be механі́зм (mechanical means for the conversion or control of motion) · pt mecanismo (mental, chemical, or physical process)