mechanic

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See also: Mechanic

English

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Alternative forms

Etymology

From Middle English mekanyk (“mechanical”), from Old French mecanique, from Latin mechanicus (“of or belonging to machines or mechanics, inventive”), from Ancient Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós, “pertaining to machines or contrivance, mechanic, ingenious, inventive”), from μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “a machine, contrivance”); see machine.

Pronunciation

  • Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "RP" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /məˈkænɪk/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ænɪk
  • Hyphenation: me‧chan‧ic

Adjective

mechanic

  1. (archaic) mechanical; relating to the laws of motion in the art of constructing things
  2. (obsolete) Of or relating to a mechanic or artificer, or to the class of artisans; hence, rude; common; vulgar; base.

Noun

mechanic (plural mechanics)

  1. (now chiefly historical) A manual worker; a labourer or artisan. [from 16th c.]
    • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
      His noble earnestness, his fidelity, his gallant shielding of her, his generous conquest of his own wrong and his own pride for her sake, are simply honourable, manly, and true. Nothing less worthy can be seen through the lustre of such qualities in the commonest mechanic, nothing less worthy can be seen in the best-born gentleman.
    • 1972, Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down, Folio Society, published 2016, page 77:
      The lower orders were freer than they had ever been – free […] to choose their own lay preachers, mechanics like the rest of the congregation.
  2. Someone who builds or repairs machinery, a technician; now specifically, someone who works with and repairs the mechanical parts of a motor vehicle, aircraft or similar. [from 17th c.]
  3. A device, command, or feature which allows someone to achieve a specific task. [from 20th c.]
    This game has a mechanic where if you run toward a ledge you automatically jump off rather than just falling.
  4. (slang) A hitman. [from 20th c.]
    • 1976, Newton Thornburg, Cutter and Bone, Little, Brown, →ISBN, page 250:
      And from then on, his bag was silence. Silence and killing. Overnight he became the best grunt we had, a real killer, a mechanic.
  5. (gambling) A cheat who manipulates the cards or dice.
    Hyponyms: card mechanic, dice mechanic
    • 1969, Bruce Jackson, A Thief's Primer, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 91:
      I can do other things beside burglarizing. I'm a first-class crap dealer, I'm a pretty good card mechanic, pretty good dice mechanic.
    • 1995, Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese, Casino, spoken by Ace (Robert De Niro):
      It was so obvious. I mean, all of Nicky's half-assed mechanics, they were real signal happy.

Derived terms

Translations

Further reading

Middle English

Adjective

mechanic

  1. Alternative form of mekanyk
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