LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · femininefirst declension

māchina

māchina f (genitive māchinae)
Classical[ˈmaː.kʰɪ.na]Ecclesiastical[ˈmaː.ki.na]

Meaning

  1. contrivance
  2. war machine, military engine, siege engine
  3. scaffold
  4. platform
  5. scheme, plan, machination
  6. mill

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativemāchina
māchilla		māchinae
māchillae
genitivemāchinae
māchillae		māchinārum
māchillārum
dativemāchinae
māchillae		māchinīs
māchillīs
accusativemāchinam
māchillam		māchinās
māchillās
ablativemāchinā
māchillā		māchinīs
māchillīs
vocativemāchina
māchilla		māchinae
māchillae

māchĭna, ae, f. = μηχανή,
I. a machine, i. e. any artificial contrivance for performing work, an engine, fabric, frame, scaffolding, staging, easel, warlike engine, military machine, etc.
I. Lit.
A. In gen.: moles et machina mundi, Lucr. 5, 96: omnes illae columnae machinā appositā dejectae sunt, Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 55, § 145: torquet nunc lapidem, nunc ingens machina tignum, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 73: trahuntque siccas machinae carinas, id. C. 1, 4, 2: frumentaria, Dig. 33, 7, 12.—
B. Esp.,
1. A platform on which slaves were exposed for sale: amicam de machinis emere, Q. Cic. Petit. Cons. 2, 8.—
2. A painter's easel, Plin. 35, 10, 37, § 120.—
3. A scaffold for building: de machinā cadere, Dig. 13, 6, 5; Plin. 19, 2, 8, § 30.—
4. A military machine, warlike engine: machinis omnium generum expugnare oppidum, Sall. J. 21: aut haec in nostros fabricata est machina muros, Verg. A. 2, 46: murales, Plin. 7, 56, 57, § 202: arietaria, Vitr. 10, 19.—
II. Trop., a device, plan, contrivance; esp. a trick, artifice, stratagem: at nunc disturba quas statuisti machinas, i. e. abandon your schemes, Plaut. Ps. 1, 5, 137: totam hanc legem ad illius opes evertendas tamquam machinam comparari, Cic. Agr. 2, 18, 50: omnes ad amplificandam orationem quasi machinae, * Quint. 11, 1, 44: dolum aut machinam commoliar, Caecil. ap. Cic. N. D. 3, 29, 73: quantas moveo machinas! Plaut. Mil. 3, 2, 1: aliquam machinabor machinam, Unde aurum efficiam, id. Bacch. 2, 2, 54.

Origins

Borrowed from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ (mākhănā́, “machine, tool”) (compare Attic Greek μηχανή (mēkhanḗ)). A very early borrowing, considering the vowel reduction of unstressed /a/ to /i/.

Elsewhere
  • Italianmacignofrom Vulgar Latin *māchineum
  • Catalanmàquina
  • Italianmacchina
  • Frenchmachinefrom Middle French machine
  • Englishmachinefrom Middle French machine
  • Occitanmaquina
  • Portuguesemáquina
  • Spanishmáquina
  • Albanianmakinë
  • Central Kurdishمەکینەfrom Arabic ماكينة
Italo-Dalmatian
  • Italianmacina
  • Dalmatianmucna
  • Tuscanmainafrom Italian macina
Insular Romance
  • Sardinianmaghina
Gallo-Italic
  • Lombardmasna

In English words that came into English from māchina

  • machinemāchina
  • machinistmāchina
  • machinationmachinatio
  • machinatemachinātus
  • machinatormāchinātor

Quick answers

What does māchina mean in Latin?
māchina, a noun, means “contrivance; war machine, military engine, siege engine; scaffold”.
What is the genitive of māchina?
The genitive singular is māchinae. māchina is feminine, first declension.
How do you pronounce māchina?
In classical Latin, [ˈmaː.kʰɪ.na]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈmaː.ki.na].
Which English words come from māchina?
English words that go back to Latin māchina include machine, machinist, machination, machinate and machinator.