mechanization

American  

[mek-uh-nahy-zey-shuhn] / ˌmɛk ə naɪˈzeɪ ʃən /

especially British, mechanisation

noun

1. the act or process of causing a task to be performed or operated by machinery.

   The mechanization of cinnamon processing has also solved health and sanitation issues plaguing the industry.

2. the act or process of introducing machines into an industry or other area of activity in order to replace human labor.

   Hay loaders are another example of the increasing mechanization of agriculture.

3. the act or process of subordinating the spiritual to the material, or of explaining something totally in terms of material forces.

   There is a vague unease with the artificiality of technology, with its imperialistic mechanization of a world from which we ourselves feel strangely alien.

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Other Word Forms

• antimechanization noun

Etymology

Origin of mechanization

mechaniz(e) ( def. ) + -ation

Example Sentences

In America, mechanization, economies of scale and mass marketing gutted local competitors by providing lower prices and higher-quality products.

From The Wall Street Journal

Public- and private-sector researchers have experimented with mechanization for decades, but progress has been slow.

From The Wall Street Journal

The economy has shifted away from jobs requiring direct physical labor toward more sedentary jobs owing to computerization and mechanization, making age-based disability standards that assume jobs require physical exertion outdated and ripe for reform.

From Los Angeles Times

When Disney goes from leaning on a desk to standing, and then back again, you’ll be looking around the stage, wondering just what mechanization allowed that to happen.

From Los Angeles Times

In California’s wine country, mechanization means grapes are now mostly picked by machines.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• computerization
• industrialization