machinate

American  

[mak-uh-neyt] / ˈmæk əˌneɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

machinated, machinating

1. to contrive or plot, especially artfully or with evil purpose.

   to machinate the overthrow of the government.

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machinate British  

/ ˈmæʃ-, ˈmækɪˌneɪt /

verb

1. (usually tr) to contrive, plan, or devise (schemes, plots, etc)

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Other Word Forms

• machinator noun
• unmachinated adjective
• unmachinating adjective

Etymology

Origin of machinate

First recorded in 1540–50; from Latin māchinātus, past participle of māchinārī “to invent, contrive, devise artfully”; machine, -ate ¹

Explanation

To machinate is to scheme or plan something. You might, for example, machinate a way to defeat the more popular candidate in an election for school president. You can use the verb machinate in two ways: to arrange or plan in a carefully detailed way, or to plot in an equally careful but somewhat sneaky or underhanded way. While a teacher might machinate to best organize and inspire her class, a movie villain also machinates in order to defeat the hero. Both meanings come from the same root, the noun machination, "plotting or intrigue," which is ultimately rooted in the Latin machina, "device or machine."

Example Sentences

Ms. Johansson defended herself by arguing that the character “has a human brain in an entirely machinate body,” and said, “I would never attempt to play a person of a different race, obviously.”

From New York Times • Dec. 27, 2017

It urges those who work in it to agglutinate and machinate.

From Economist • Oct. 27, 2016

But that leaves plenty of legislative detail, if the Lib Dems machinate wisely, for the two parties to find common cause over.

From Economist • Jun. 11, 2015

And whatever the 20th century gods do, they don't machinate.

From Time Magazine Archive

He neither wished for war, nor dared he machinate for it; but with all his democratic soul he loved the cause which was convulsing the world from its ferocious centre in France.

From The Conqueror by Atherton, Gertrude Franklin Horn