machination

English

WOTD – 21 August 2007

Etymology

From French machination, or directly from Latin māchinātiō, from māchinor (“devise, invent”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌmækɪˈneɪʃən/, /ˌmæʃɪˈneɪʃən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun

machination (countable and uncountable, plural machinations)

1. 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.

2. The act of machinating or plotting.

Related terms

• machinal
• machinate

Translations

clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes

• Armenian: մեքենայություն (hy) (mekʻenayutʻyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奸計 (zh) (jiānjì), 奸计 (zh) (jiānjì), 陰謀／阴谋 (zh) (yīnmóu), 阴谋 (zh) (yīnmóu), 詭計／诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 暗算 (zh) (ànsuàn)

• Finnish: masinointi (fi)
• French: machination (fr) f
• German: Machenschaft (de) f
• Greek: δολοπλοκία (el) f (doloplokía), μηχανορραφία (el) f (michanorrafía), σκευωρία (el) f (skevoría), πλεκτάνη (el) f (plektáni)
• Hungarian: machináció
• Icelandic: ráðabrugg n, leynimakk n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: macchinazione (it) f, complotto (it) m, intrigo (it) m, cospirazione (it) f, tiro mancino (it) m
• Japanese: 策謀 (さくぼう, sakubō), 策動 (さくどう, sakudō)
• Portuguese: maquinação (pt) f
• Russian: махина́ция (ru) f (maxinácija)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: махинација f, макинација f, сплетка f

  Roman: mahinacija f, makinacija (sh) f, spletka (sh) f

• Spanish: maquinación f, trapisonda (es)

act of machinating

• Armenian: մեքենայություն (hy) (mekʻenayutʻyun)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奸計 (zh) (jiānjì), 奸计 (zh) (jiānjì), 陰謀／阴谋 (zh) (yīnmóu), 阴谋 (zh) (yīnmóu), 詭計／诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 诡计 (zh) (guǐjì), 暗算 (zh) (ànsuàn)

• Finnish: masinointi (fi)
• Hungarian: machináció
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: macchinazione (it) f, complotto (it) m
• Portuguese: maquinação (pt) f
• Russian: махина́ция (ru) f (maxinácija), ко́зни (ru) m pl (kózni), про́иски (ru) m pl (próiski)
• Spanish: maquinación f

Further reading

• “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.

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

machination f (plural machinations)

1. Undercover or underhanded plot; machination.

Further reading

• “machination”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.