machination
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French machination, or directly borrowed from Latin māchinātiōnem, from māchinor (“devise, invent”) c. 1150–1475. By surface analysis, machinate + -ion or machine + -ation.
Pronunciation edit
- IPA(key): /ˌmækɪˈneɪʃən/, /ˌmæʃɪˈneɪʃən/
Audio (US, /-k-/) (file) Audio (AU, /-k-/) (file) - Rhymes: -eɪʃən
Noun edit
machination (countable and uncountable, plural machinations)
- A clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes.
- c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 286, column 2:
- Machinations, hollowneſſe, treacherie, and all ruinous diſorders follow vs diſquietly to our Graues.
- 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter IV, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 37:
- He witnessed her palpitating bosom, the lifeless hues and disconsolate expression of her interesting countenance; yet, from the machinations of his evil passions, he would have proceeded further, until, entirely overcome, he had seen her drop motionless in her chair, in order that he might have the luxury of supporting her within his arms, and of recalling her to a sense of life and being.
- 2001 September 7, Walt Dohrn, Paul Tibbitt, Merriwether Williams, “The Secret Box”, in SpongeBob SquarePants:
- PATRICK: The inner machinations of my mind are an enigma.
- The act of machinating or plotting.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes
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act of machinating
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References edit
- “machination”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “machination”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “machination, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Latin māchinātiōnem.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
machination f (plural machinations)
Related terms edit
References edit
- “machination”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.