Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

mechanical

/məˈkænəkəl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.33 in modern English

Syllables: me-chan-i-cal
IPA: /məˈkænəkəl/

19

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Characteristic of someone who does manual labour for a living; coarse, vulgar.

Archaic

adj

Related to mechanics (the branch of physics that deals with forces acting on matter).

adj

Related to mechanics (the design and construction of machines).

adj

Done by machine.

adj

Using mechanics (the design and construction of machines): being a machine.

adj

As if performed by a machine: lifeless, mindless, thoughtless, automatic.

adj

Acting as if one were a machine: lifeless or mindless.

adj

Handy with machines.

Informal

Example Sentences

"Thy Doll, and Helen of thy noble thoughts, Is in base durance and contagious prison, Haled thither by most mechanical and dirty hand."
"all manner of silks were already become so vile and abject, that was any man seene to weare them, he was presently judged to be some countrie fellow, or mechanicall man."
"mechanical engineering"
"mechanical dictionary"
"mechanical task"
"mechanical arm"

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *megʰ-der.? Ancient Greek μηχανή (mēkhanḗ) Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Hellenic *-kos Ancient Greek -κός (-kós) Ancient Greek -ικός (-ikós) Ancient Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós)bor. Latin mēchanicusder. Old French mecaniquebor. Middle English mechanic Proto-Indo-European *h₂el- Proto-Indo-European *-is Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.? Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālisbor. Old French -albor. ▲ Latin -ālis Old French -elbor. ▲ Latin -ālisbor. Middle English -al Middle English mechanical English mechanical From Middle English mechanical, mechanicalle, mechanycalle, equivalent to mechanic + -al.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: mechanical

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /məˈkænəkəl/
British English: /məˈkænɪkəl/

Usage

Inflected Forms

more mechanical (comparative) most mechanical (superlative) mechanicals (plural)

Derived Forms

acoustomechanical aeromechanical biomechanical chemomechanical cytomechanical elastomechanical electromechanical endomechanical geomechanical histomechanical hydromechanical iatromechanical

Phrases

bio-mechanical electro-mechanical electro-mechanical computer logical mechanical element mechanical advantage mechanical bank mechanical bull mechanical digestion

Frequently Paired Words

mechanic mechanics mechanism

Synonyms

pasteup mechanically skillful technical

Rhymes With

botanical tyrannical puritanical electromechanical

Questions

How do you pronounce mechanical?: The recorded pronunciation is /məˈkænəkəl/.
What does mechanical mean?: Characteristic of someone who does manual labour for a living; coarse, vulgar.
Where does mechanical come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce mechanical

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “mechanical”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/məˈkænəkəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “mechanical”.
Repeat and practice — Say “mechanical” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.