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)
- 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: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii], page 286, column 2:
- Machinations, hollowneſſe, treacherie, and all ruinous diſorders follow vs diſquietly to our Graues.
-
- The act of machinating or plotting.
Translations
clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes
|
|
act of machinating
|
Further reading
- machination in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- machination in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
French
Pronunciation
Audio (file)
Further reading
- “machination” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.