machination

English

WOTD – 21 August 2007

Etymology

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

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

• Audio (US); /-k-/:

  (file)

• Audio (General Australian); /-k-/:

  (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.

   • 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.

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)
• Belarusian: махіна́цыя f (maxinácyja), інтры́га f (intrýha)
• Bulgarian: машина́ция (bg) f (mašinácija), интри́га (bg) f (intríga)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奸計 (zh) (jiānjì), 陰謀／阴谋 (zh) (yīnmóu), 詭計／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 (hu), üzelmek (hu), fondorlat (hu), mesterkedés (hu)
• Icelandic: ráðabrugg n, leynimakk n
• Italian: macchinazione (it) f, complotto (it) m, intrigo (it) m, cospirazione (it) f, tiro mancino (it) m
• Japanese: 策謀 (ja) (さくぼう, sakubō), 策動 (ja) (さくどう, sakudō)
• Korean: 권모술수(權謀術數) (ko) (gwonmosulsu)
• Macedonian: махина́ција f (mahinácija), и́нтрига f (íntriga), спле́тка f (splétka)
• Polish: machinacja (pl) f
• Portuguese: maquinação (pt) f
• Russian: махина́ция (ru) f (maxinácija), интри́га (ru) f (intríga)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: махина́ција f, макина́ција f, спле̏тка f

  Roman: mahinácija f, makinácija (sh) f, splȅtka (sh) f

• Spanish: maquinación (es) f, trapisonda (es)
• Swedish: ränker (sv) c pl
• Ukrainian: махіна́ція (uk) f (maxinácija), інтри́га f (intrýha)

act of machinating

• Armenian: մեքենայություն (hy) (mekʻenayutʻyun)
• Belarusian: хі́трыкі m pl (xítryki), падсе́ды m pl (padsjédy), заме́ры m pl (zamjéry)
• Chinese:

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

• Finnish: masinointi (fi)
• Hungarian: machináció (hu)
• 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 (es) f
• Ukrainian: пі́дступи m pl (pídstupy), за́міри m pl (zámiry)

References

• “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

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin māchinātiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ma.ʃi.na.sjɔ̃/
• Rhymes: -ɔ̃

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

machination f (plural machinations)

1. undercover or underhanded plot; machination

Related terms

• machiner

References

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