Standard Lemma guide

mechanics

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /məˈkænɪks/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: M AH0 K AE1 N IH0 K S Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The branch of physics that deals with the action of forces on material objects with mass.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: natural-sciences, physical-sciences, physics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The design and construction of machines.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Spelling and punctuation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Topics: communications, journalism, literature, media, publishing, writing

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Operation in general; workings.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • the mechanics of a board game

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

plural of mechanic

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: form-of, plural

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

the technical aspects of doing something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a mechanism of social control
  • mechanisms of communication
  • the mechanics of prose style

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: mechanism

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: performance, execution, carrying out, carrying into action

7

noun

Meaning 7

the branch of physics concerned with the motion of bodies in a frame of reference

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: physics, natural philosophy

Narrower terms: classical mechanics, Newtonian mechanics, fluid mechanics, hydraulics, pneumatics, statics, dynamics, kinetics, kinematics, aeromechanics, aerodynamics

History

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 mēchanicusbor. English mechanics From Latin mēchanicus, from Ancient Greek μηχανικός (mēkhanikós), from μηχανή (mēkhanḗ, “machine, tool”).

Across languages

Translations

88 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: mekanikë — a branch of physics
  • Arabic: مِيكَانِيكَا (mikānikā) — a branch of physics
  • Arabic: مِيكَانِيكِيَّة (mīkānīkiyya) — a branch of physics
  • Armenian: մեխանիկա (mexanika) — a branch of physics
  • Azerbaijani: mexanika — a branch of physics
  • Belarusian: меха́ніка (mjexánika) — a branch of physics
  • Belarusian: мэха́ніка (mexánika) — a branch of physics
  • Bengali: বলবিজ্ঞান (bolbiggên) — a branch of physics
  • Bulgarian: меха́ника (mehánika) — a branch of physics
  • Burmese: စက်ပြင် (cakprang) — a branch of physics
  • Burmese: မက္ကင်းနစ် (makkang:nac) — a branch of physics
  • Catalan: mecànica — a branch of physics
  • Chinese Cantonese: 力學 /力学 (lik6 hok6) — a branch of physics
  • Chinese: 力學 /力学 (zh-min-nan) — a branch of physics
  • Chinese Mandarin: 力學 /力学 (lìxué) — a branch of physics
  • Czech: mechanika — a branch of physics
  • Danish: mekanik — a branch of physics
  • Dutch: mechanica — a branch of physics
  • Esperanto: mekaniko — a branch of physics
  • Estonian: mehaanika — a branch of physics
  • Finnish: mekaniikka — a branch of physics
  • French: mécanique — a branch of physics
  • Galician: mecánica — a branch of physics
  • Georgian: მექანიკა (mekaniḳa) — a branch of physics
  • German: Mechanik — a branch of physics
  • Greek: μηχανική (michanikí) — a branch of physics
  • Ancient Greek: μηχανική (mēkhanikḗ) — a branch of physics
  • Hebrew: מֶכָנִיקָה (mekhánika) — a branch of physics
  • Hindi: यांत्रिकी (yāntrikī) — a branch of physics
  • Icelandic: aflfræði — a branch of physics
  • Icelandic: kraftfræði — a branch of physics
  • Ido: mekaniko — a branch of physics
  • Indonesian: mekanika — a branch of physics
  • Irish: meicnic — a branch of physics
  • Italian: meccanica — a branch of physics
  • Japanese: 力学 (rikigaku) — a branch of physics
  • Kazakh: механика (mexanika) — a branch of physics
  • Khmer: យន្តសិក្សា (yŭəntaʼsəksaa) — a branch of physics
  • Khmer: យន្តសាស្ត្រ (yŭəntaʼsaah) — a branch of physics
  • Korean: 역학 (yeokhak) — a branch of physics
  • Korean: 력학 (ryeokhak) — a branch of physics
  • Northern Kurdish: mekanîk — a branch of physics
  • Kyrgyz: механика (mehanika) — a branch of physics
  • Lao: ກົນລະສາດ (kon la sāt) — a branch of physics
  • Latin: mēchanicus — a branch of physics
  • Latvian: mehānika — a branch of physics
  • Lithuanian: mechanika — a branch of physics
  • Luxembourgish: Mechanik — a branch of physics
  • Macedonian: механика (mehanika) — a branch of physics
  • Malay: kaji daya — a branch of physics
  • Malay: mekanik — a branch of physics
  • Mongolian: механик (mexanik) — a branch of physics
  • Mongolian: ᠮᠧᠬᠠᠨᠢᠭ (mēqaniɣ) — a branch of physics
  • Norwegian: mekanikk — a branch of physics
  • Norwegian Bokmål: mekanikk — a branch of physics
  • Old English: weorccræft — a branch of physics
  • Pashto: ميخانيک (mexāník) — a branch of physics
  • Persian: مکانیک (mekânik) — a branch of physics
  • Persian: علم الحیل (elm-ol-heyal) — a branch of physics
  • Polish: mechanika — a branch of physics
  • Portuguese: mecânica — a branch of physics
  • Romanian: mecanică — a branch of physics
  • Russian: меха́ника (mexánika) — a branch of physics
  • Serbo-Croatian: механика — a branch of physics
  • Serbo-Croatian: mehànika — a branch of physics
  • Sindhi: ميڪانيات (mekānyāt) — a branch of physics
  • Slovak: mechanika — a branch of physics
  • Slovene: mehanika — a branch of physics
  • Spanish: mecánica — a branch of physics
  • Swedish: mekanik — a branch of physics
  • Tagalog: sigwasan — a branch of physics
  • Tagalog: dalubsigwasan — a branch of physics
  • Tajik: механика (mexanika) — a branch of physics
  • Tatar: механика (mexaniqa) — a branch of physics
  • Thai: กลศาสตร์ (gon-lá-sàat) — a branch of physics
  • Turkish: mekanik — a branch of physics
  • Turkmen: mehanika — a branch of physics
  • Ukrainian: меха́ніка (mexánika) — a branch of physics
  • Urdu: میکانیات (mekāniyāt) — a branch of physics
  • Uyghur: مېخانىكا (mëxanika) — a branch of physics
  • Uzbek: mexanika — a branch of physics
  • Vietnamese: cơ học — a branch of physics
  • Yiddish: מעכאַניק (mekhanik) — a branch of physics
  • Bulgarian: машинострое́не (mašinostroéne) — the design and construction of machines
  • Icelandic: vélfræði — the design and construction of machines
  • Indonesian: mekanika — the design and construction of machines
  • Polish: inżynieria mechaniczna — the design and construction of machines
  • Russian: машинострое́ние (mašinostrojénije) — the design and construction of machines
Real reading context

mechanics in complete knowledge articles