mechanic
Syllables: me·chan·icUK/mɪˈkænɪk/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
British/məˈkanɪk/
mechanic adjective: mechanical; relating to mechanics or the laws of motion in physics.
Adjective
mechanic
- mechanical; relating to mechanics or the laws of motion in physics
- […] these mechanick Philosophers being in no Way able to give an Account thereof from the necessary motion of Matter, unguided by Mind for Ends […]1691, John Ray, The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation. […], London: […] Samuel Smith, […], →OCLC
- mechanical; precise but lifeless, as if performed by machine
- But, for the unquiet heart and brain,
A use in measured language lies;
The sad mechanic exercise,
Like dull narcotics, numbing pain.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto V”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC
- But, for the unquiet heart and brain,
- Of or relating to a mechanic or artificer, or to the class of artisans; hence, rude; common; vulgar; base.
- Mechanic slaves,
With greasy aprons, rules, and hammers.c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard... - Authors both Sacred and Profane we see complain of the Level of Learning, with Mechanick Ignorance: [...]1654, Richard Whitlock, Zootomia; Or, Observations on the Present Manners of the English
- Mechanic slaves,
Noun
mechanic (plural mechanics)
- A manual worker; a labourer or artisan.
- His noble earnestness, his fidelity, his gallant shielding of her, his generous conquest of his own wrong and his own pride for her sake, are simply honourable, manly, and true. Nothing less worthy can be seen through the lustre of such qualities in the commonest mechanic, nothing less worthy can...1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC
- The lower orders were freer than they had ever been – free […] to choose their own lay preachers, mechanics like the rest of the congregation.1972, Christopher Hill, The World Turned Upside Down, Folio Society, published 2016, page 77
- Someone who builds or repairs machinery, a technician; now specifically, someone who works with and repairs the mechanical parts of a motor vehicle, aircraft or similar.
- Synonyms:
- grease monkey
- A device, method or means; a function.
- A hitman.
- And from then on, his bag was silence. Silence and killing. Overnight he became the best grunt we had, a real killer, a mechanic.1976, Newton Thornburg, Cutter and Bone, Little, Brown, →ISBN, page 250
- A cheat who manipulates the cards or dice.
- I can do other things beside burglarizing. I'm a first-class crap dealer, I'm a pretty good card mechanic, pretty good dice mechanic.1969, Bruce Jackson, A Thief's Primer, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 91
- It was so obvious. I mean, all of Nicky's half-assed mechanics, they were real signal happy.1995, Nicholas Pileggi, Martin Scorsese, Casino, spoken by Ace (Robert De Niro)
Proper noun capitalized: Mechanic
Mechanic
- A surname.
mechanic meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
mechanic in Hindi
- skilled worker on machinery
- मिस्त्री mistrī, मेकेनिक mekenik
mechanic in Tamil
- கம்மியர்
mechanic in Urdu
- skilled worker on machinery
- مِسْتْری mistrī, دَسْتْکار dastkār, مِکینِک mikenik, مِکَینِک mikainik
mechanic in Bengali
- skilled worker on machinery
- কারিগর karigor, যান্ত্রিক jantrik
More languagesFewer languages
- mechanic in Malayalam
- യന്ത്രം നന്നാക്കുന്നയാൾ, ശില്പി, യന്ത്രപ്പണിക്കാരൻ
- mechanic in Kannada
- ಯಂತ್ರಗಾರ, ಯಂತ್ರಕಾರ, ಯಂತ್ರಶಿಲ್ಪಿ, ಯಾಂತ್ರಿಗ
- mechanic in Pashto
- ميخانيک mayxāník, مستري mestarí, ماشينکار māšinkār
- mechanic in Tagalog
- mekaniko, maninigmo
- mechanic in Arabic
- مِيكَانِيكِيّ mīkānīkiyy
- mechanic in Malay
- mekanik
- mechanic in Indonesian
- montir, mekanik
- mechanic in Thai
- ช่างเครื่อง châang-krʉ̂ʉang
- mechanic in Vietnamese
- thợ máy
- mechanic in Myanmar
- စက်ဆရာ cakhca.ra
Examples of mechanic in a sentence
- Sometimes he ply'd the ſtrong mechanic Tool, / Or rear'd the Fabrick from the fineſt Draught; [...]1748, James Thomson, “Canto II”, in The Castle of Indolence: […], London: […] A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, stanza XII, page 47:
- Nothing less worthy can be seen through the lustre of such qualities in the commonest mechanic, nothing less worthy can be seen in the best-born gentleman.1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:
Synonyms of mechanic
Forms of mechanic
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| alternative form (obsolete) | mechanick |
| Noun | |
| plural | mechanics |
Origin of mechanic
From Middle English mekanyk (“mechanical”), from Old French mecanique, from Latin mechanicus (“of or belonging to machines or mechanics, inventive”), from Ancient Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós, “pertaining to machines or contrivance, mechanic, ingenious, inventive”), from μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “a machine, contrivance”); see machine.
Words formed from mechanic
Phrases with mechanic
Words that rhyme with mechanic
- organic
- panic
- aldermanic
- Hispanic
- inorganic
- Romanic
- tetanic
- volcanic
- cyanic
- melanic
- titanic
- tympanic
38 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- uranic
- allophanic
- manic
- montanic
- Sudanic
- veganic
- alloxanic
- balanic
- bistephanic
- botanic
- Britannic
- caroticotympanic
- Catalanic
- clavulanic
- Dianic
- endotympanic
- extratympanic
- furanic
- hydrovolcanic
- incudotympanic
- intertympanic
- Itanic
- manganic
- neanic
- nontympanic
- paratympanic
- pharyngotympanic
- phytanic
- pristanic
- Proto-Germanic
- pyranic
- retrotympanic
- shamanic
- stannic
- sultanic
- tannic
- Trajanic
- tyrannic
Questions about mechanic
- What does mechanic mean?
- Mechanic means mechanical; relating to mechanics or the laws of motion in physics.
- What is mechanic in Hindi?
- Mechanic in Hindi is मिस्त्री (mistrī), मेकेनिक (mekenik). See Mechanic meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use mechanic in a sentence?
- Sometimes he ply'd the ſtrong mechanic Tool, / Or rear'd the Fabrick from the fineſt Draught; [...]
- What part of speech is mechanic?
- Mechanic can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce mechanic?
- Mechanic is pronounced /mɪˈkænɪk/ (UK).
Words near mechanic in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: mechanic (page history and authors); Mechanic (page history and authors); mechanic (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mechanic (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); mechanic (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-mechanic.ogg.
Cite this entry: “mechanic.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mechanic. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.