Etymograph

English

machinate

Machinate comes from Latin machinātus ‘having devised’, from māchina ‘device, engine’, and ultimately from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ ‘machine, tool’.

  1. Doric Greekmodernμᾱχᾰνᾱ́‘machine, tool’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmāchina‘device, engine’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmachinor‘to invent, devise’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmachinātus‘having devised’perfect active participle of machinor
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2011machinate

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Doric Greekmodernμᾱχᾰνᾱ́‘machine, tool’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmāchina‘device, engine’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmachinor‘to invent, devise’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmachinātus‘having devised’perfect active participle of machinor
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2011machinate

Earliest quotation: 2011, Ian Douglas Robertson: “Had she already managed to machinate a cushy job…”

first attested First attested in 1537 (as stated in the etymology)

The story

First attested in 1537; borrowed from Latin machinātus, perfect active participle of machinor (‘to invent, devise; to scheme, plot’) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from māchina (‘machine, contrivance, device, scheme’), an early borrowing from Ancient Greek.

Every English word from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́

Today it means

verb To devise a plot or secret plan; to conspire.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ / machinate

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