machine
ma·chine/məˈʃin/noun, verb
machine is spelled M-A-C-H-I-N-E, 2 syllables: ma·chine. The wrong spelling people search most is maching: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 51 of all searches for the word. Machine is a noun meaning “A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain…”. The plural of machine is machines.
How many letters and syllables are in machine?
| Letters | 7: M-A-C-H-I-N-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: ma·chine |
| In writing | 79 times per million words; the 1,338th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, maching, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell machine?
Machine is spelled M-A-C-H-I-N-E. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 46 of the searches for machine in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is machine?
Machine appears 79 times per million words in written English, the 1,338th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce machine?
- UK /məˈʃiːn/
- US /məˈʃin/
- Australia /məˈʃiːn/
Machine has 2 syllables, split ma·chine in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-machine.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-machine.wav, En-us-machine.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with machine?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as machine from its last stressed vowel (/in/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of machine
- machines plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- machining participle, present
- machined participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does machine mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A device that directs and controls energy, often in the form of movement or electricity, to produce a certain effect.
- 2
datedA vehicle operated mechanically, such as an automobile or an airplane.
- 3
An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail.
I called you earlier, but all I got was the machine.
- 4
A computer.
Game developers assume they're pushing the limits of the machine.
- 5
A person or organisation that seemingly acts like a machine, being particularly efficient, single-minded, or unemotional.
Bruce Campbell was a "demon-killing machine" because he made quick work of killing demons.
- 6
Especially, the group that controls a political or similar organization; a combination of persons acting together for a common purpose, with the agencies which they use.
- 7
Supernatural agency in a poem, or a superhuman being introduced to perform some exploit.
- 8
USThe system of special interest groups that supports a political party, especially in urban areas.
verb
- 1
To make by machinery.
- 2
To shape or finish by machinery; (usually, more specifically) to shape subtractively by metal-cutting with machine-controlled toolpaths.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate machine?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of machine: M/C, Mach..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Machine in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | machine , usiner |
| German | Maschine , herstellen , bearbeiten |
| Portuguese | máquina , automóvel |
| Spanish | máquina , mecanizar , coche |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does machine come from?
Borrowed from Middle French machine, from Latin māchina (“a machine, engine, contrivance, device, stratagem, trick”), from Doric Greek μᾱχᾰνᾱ́ (mākhănā́), cognate with Attic Greek μηχᾰνή (mēkhănḗ, “a machine, engine, contrivance, device”), from which comes mechanical. Displaced native Old English searu.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).