mechanic 
But he |Fope| (his musical flncsse wu BUcb, 
So nice his ear, no delicate hia touch) 
\!,i'l<' ]Mirtr> :i nirir imr/mm'f art. 
Coicper, Tablc-Talk, 1. 654. 
Must Hlrrpy bards the nattering dream prolong, 
M,-i-/ntnie echoes of tho Mantuan song? 
Crabbe, Works, I. 4. 
2t. Belonging to or characteristic of the class 
of mechanics; common; vulgar; mean. 
The poor mechanic porters crowding In 
Their heavy burdens at his narrow gate. 
Shak., Hen. V., i. 2. -200. 
3. Supporting the atomistic philosophy. 
These mechanic philosophers being no way able to give 
an account thereof [of the formation and organization of 
the bodies of animals] from the necessary motion of mat- 
ter, liay, Works of Creation, 1. 
II. . It. Mechanic art; mechanics. 
Of hem that ben artificers, 
Whiclie vsen craftes and misters, 
Whose arte is cleped mechanike. 
Qouxr, Coat. Amant., vll. 
2f. Mechanism; structure. 
The fault being in the very frame and mechanic of the 
part. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, II. 194. 
3. A maker of machines or machinery ; hence, 
any skilled worker with tools; one who has 
learned a trade ; a workman whose occupation 
consists in the systematic manipulation and 
constructive shaping or application of mate- 
rials; an artificer, artisan, or craftsman. TO 
many persons whose business is partly mechanical the 
term mechanic is inapplicable, as fanners, surgeons, and 
artists. It implies special training, and is therefore in- 
applicable to unskilled laborers, though they may be en- 
gaged in constructive work. 
An art quite lost with our mechanicks, a work not to be 
made out, but like the walls of Thebes, and such an artifi- 
cer as Amphion. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err., vii. 18. 
Some plain mechanic, who, without pretence 
To birth or wit, nor gives nor takes offence. 
Cowper, Retirement, 1. 449, 
4. One who works mechanically ; one who fol- 
lows routine or rule in an occupation requir- 
ing careful thought or study : used opprobri- 
ously: as, a mere literary mechanic; the picture 
shows the artist to be only a mechanic Mechan- 
ics' Institute, an institution for the Instruction and recre- 
ation of artisans and others of similar grade, by means of 
lectures, a library, museum, courses of lessons, etc. Me- 
chanic's lien. See lien%. 
mechanical(me-kan'i-kal),.andH. [(mechanic 
+ -/.] I. a. 1.' Pertaining to or exhibiting con- 
structive power ; of or pertaining to mechanism 
or machinery; also, dependent upon the use of 
mechanism; of the nature or character of a 
machine or machinery: as, mechanical inven- 
tions or contrivances; to do something by me- 
chanical means. 
Arts mechanical contract brotherhoods In commonal- 
ties. Bacon, Advancement of Learning, 11. 116. 
2. Machine-like; acting or actuated by or as 
if by machinery, or by fixed routine ; lacking 
spontaneity, spirit, individuality, etc. ; as ap- 
plied to actions, automatic, instinctive, uncon- 
scious, etc.: as, the mechanical action of the 
heart ; a mechanical musician. 
Any man with eyes and hands may be taught to take a 
likeness. The process, up to a certain point, is merely 
mechanical. Macavlay, History. 
I call that part of mental and bodily life mechanical 
which la independent of our volition. 
0. W. Holmes, Old Vol. of Life, p. 261. 
Human action Is either mechanical or Intelligent, either 
conventional or rational. 
J. R. Seeley, Nat. Religion, p. 166. 
3. Having the characteristics of that which is 
produced by machinery or is artificially con- 
trived; artificial; not spontaneous ; not genu- 
ine or of natural growth ; lacking life or spirit ; 
humdrum . 
None of these men of mechanical courage have ever 
made any great figure in the profession of arms. 
Steele, Spectator, No. 152. 
I always thought fit to keep up some nirrhauital forms 
of good breeding, without which freedom ever destroys 
friendship. Goldsmith, VJcar, Iv. 
It is the limitation to rigid instruments already pre- 
pared, and to an external connection between them, that 
gives mechanical work that uncanny appearance which 
causes us to feel most repugnance to a comparison of It 
with life. /."'.-. Slicrocosmus (trans.), I. 72. 
He would not tolerate a mechanical lesson, and took de- 
light in puzzling his pupils and breaking up all routine 
business by startling and unexpected questions and asser- 
tions. H. B. Stotee, Oldtown, p. 428. 
4. Of or pertaining to the material forces of 
nature acting on inanimate bodies or masses; 
specifically, pertaining to the principles or la \v 
of mechanics: as, the i<r/m in// effect sol' lYosi : 
the mechiinii'iil powers. 
The tumult in the parts of solid bodies when they are 
compressed, which is the cause <>f all Night of bodies 
through the air, and of other nurAanicn/motiona, . . . ll 
not seen at all. Bacon, Nat. Hist., t 98. 
3679 mechanism 
6. Effected by material force or forces; con- mechanicalness (me-kan'i-kal-nes), . The 
sisting in the play of material forces : as, nn - state of being mechanical, or governed by or as 
i-liiiiiii-nl pressure. if by mechanism. 
I doubt, however, If a view which recognizes only a me- mechanician ( mek-a-nish an), 71. [= F. **- 
1 One who is 
chanical course of Nature can logically do anything with 
such Ideas u those of reverence, and so forth, but reckon 
them among the morbid productions of imagination to 
which nothing real corresponds, and of which it hat al- 
ready learnt to reject so many. 
Lota, Mlcrocosmus (trans.), II. 109. 
6. Exalting the material forces of the universe 
above the spiritual; subordinating the spirit- 
ual to the material; materialistic: as, the me- 
rliitnii-iil philosophy (specifically, atomism); a 
iiiii-lianical view of life. 7. Belonging to or 
characteristic of mechanics or artisans, or their 
class ; mechanic-like ; having the character or 
status of an artisan ; hence (chiefly in old writ- 
ings), mean, low, or vulgar. 
Hang him, mechanical salt-butter rogue. 
Shak., M, W. of W., It 2. 290. 
The lower part (contalneth] the houses of artificers and 
mechanical men that keepe then- shops there. 
Coryat, Cruditle*, I. 217. 
. mechanician (mek-a-nish'an), 71. [= 
i nil-it n ; as micluniic + -iilii.] 1. On 
skilled in mechanics or in machinery; one who 
is versed in the principles of machines or of 
mechanical construction. 
Even A mechanician, if he hu never looked Into a piano, 
will, if shown a damper, be unable to conceive Its function 
or relative value. H. Spencer, Data of Ethics, 1 1. 
2. A mechanic ; an artisan. 
A mechanician or mechanical! workman U he whose 
ski! Is without knowledge of mathematical! demonstra- 
tion. Dee, Preface to Euclid (1670). 
The engraver was considered In the light of a mechani- 
cian, and, except In a very few Instances, hi name was 
not displayed. I're, Diet , II. ML 
mechanicize (me-kan'i-siz), r. t. ; pret. and pp. 
inechanicized, pp'r. mechanicians. [< mechanic 
+ -tee.] To render mechanical. [Bare.] 
Because no branch of the race was more mechaniciad 
The American, X. 89. 
by Locklanlsm than the American. 
8. Engaged in operating machines or maehin- mechanicochemical (me-kan'i-ko-kem'i-kal), 
ery, or in superintending their operation : as, a . < mechanic + chemical.] Pertaining to or 
mechanical engineer. 9. Exhibiting or indi- dependent on both mechanics and chemistry: 
eating skill in contrivance, invention, or the applied specifically to the sciences of galvan- 
use of tools and machines: as, a mechanical i B m, electricity, and magnetism, which exhibit 
genius; a mechanical turn of mind. 10. Ef- phenomena that require for their explanation 
fected or controlled by physical forces that are an application of the laws of mechanics and 
not chemical: as, a mechanical mixture (that chemistry. 
is, one in which the several ingredients still re- mechanics (me-kan'iks), . [PI. of mechanic: 
tain their identity, and are held together by see -; cs .] i. 'The theory of machines. This is 
no special force whether of cohesion or chem- the old meaning of the word, especially before the devel- 
ical attraction) ; mechanical decomposition. opment of the modern doctrine of force. 
Mechanical construction of a curve, a construction 
performed by means of a mechanical contrivance. Me- 
chanical curve. See curve. Mechanical drawing. 
Same as yemnetrical drawing (which see, under drawing). 
Mechanical engineering, finger, firing. See the 
nouns. Mechanical equivalent of neat. See eguim- 
fent Mechanical impermeator, Involution, leech. 
See the nouns. Mechanical lamp. Same as carcel-lamp. 
Mechanical line t. See JiW-'. Mechanical manceu- 
vers (milit.\ the mounting, dismounting, and transpor- 
tation of cannon and gun-carriages. Mechanical mix- 
ture. See chemical combination, under chemical. Me- 
chanical philosophy, physics considered as affording a 
basis for philosophy or the explanation of the universe. 
j ,|,, ,,, nere tak( . tne term Mechanickt In that stricter 
an ,i more proper sense wherein it is wont to be taken 
wnell it j used only to signify the doctrine about the 
mov i n g powers (a* the beam, the lever, the screws, and the 
wedge), and of framing engines to multiply force ; but I 
here understand the word Mechanicla In a larger sense, 
for those disciplines that consUt of the applications of 
the pure mathematlcks to produce or modify motion In 
Inferior bodies. Boyle, Works, III. 435. 
2. The mathematical doctrine of the motions 
and tendencies to motion of particles and sys- 
tems under the influence of forces and con- 
straints; in a narrower sense, this doctrine as 
applied to systems of rigid bodies. Mechanics 
Is now commonly divided Into kinematic* and dynamic*. 
and the latter Into statici and kinetics. Mechanics treated 
by means of the Infinitesimal calculus is called analytical 
mechanics. The fundamental principles of mechanics 
are stated under energy and force ; but the science is char- 
acterized by the great number of derived principles made 
use of. See principle. 
Newton denned the laws, rules, or observed order of the 
phenomena of motion which come under our daily obser 
vatlon with greater precision than had been before at- 
tained ; and, by following out with marvellous power and 
subtlety the mathematical consequences of these rules, 
he almost created the modem science of pure mechanic*. 
Uwdey, in Nineteenth Century, XXI. 4S9. 
Mechanical pigeon. See pigeon. Mechanical pow- 
ers, the simple machines. See machine, 2. Mechani- 
cal solution of a problem, a solution by any art or 
contrivance not strictly geometrical, as by means of the 
ruler and compasses or other instruments. Mechanical 
stage, in micros. See microscope. Mechanical tele- 
graph, an automatic telegraph in which a message repre- 
sented by a series or succession of dots on a paper ribbon 
Is passed under a key or stylus, the circuit being made or 
broken by the simple mechanical passing through of the 
ribbon. Mechanical theory in me-d., an ancient theory 
that all diseases were principally caused by lentor, or mor- 
bid viscidity of the blood. Mechanical work, work con- 
sisting in the moving of a body through space, generally in 
opposition to gravity. Rocks of mechanical origin, in 
/'/.. rocks composed of sand, pebbles, fragments, and the 
like : a term used by some (not aptly) as the equivalent of 
clastic arfraiftnental. =Syn. Mechanical, Physical, Chemi- mechanism (mek'a-nizm), H. [=F. mecanixme 
col. These epithets are thus distinguished: Thosechanges s .-., nixnin ' Ptr au-clianixmo It mcc- 
endured by bodies which concern their masses without S P- ""? M. " ~t, n ,] i T 
altering their constitution-*, e. losing their Identity- camsmo, < ML. mechanixmux, LL. mediant <H,I, 
such as changes of place, of figure, etc., are mechanical; 
those which concem the position of the molecules i. - . 
which change the molecular state of bodies, as when 
iron Is melted are physical ; those which concern the 
number or arrangement of atoms within the molecule 
and cause a change of constitution are chemical, as when 
Iron rusts t. e. oxidizes or gunpowder explodes. 
Il.t . A mechanic. 
A crew of patches, rude mechanical*, 
That work for bread upon Athenian stalls. 
Shak., M. N. D., III. U. 9. 
mechanicalize (me-kan'i-kal-iz), v. t. ; pret. and 
pp. mecltaniealiztd, ppr. mechanicaHzing. [For- 
merly mechanicallize ; < mechanical + -fe>.J To 
render mechanical; reduce to a mechanical 
level or status. Cotgrave, [Bare.] 
mechanically (me-kan'i-kal-i), adr. 1. In 
agreement with mechanical principles ; accord- 
ing to the laws of mechanism or good workman- 
ship: as, the machine is mechanically perfect. 
The chick with all IU part* Is not a mechanically con- 
trived engine. Boyle, Works, III. 6S. 
2. By mechanical force or means ; by physical 
power: as, water mechanically raised. 3. In a 
manner resembling a machine; without care 
or reflection ; by the mere force of habit ; auto- 
matically; not spontaneously: as, to play on 
an instrument mechanically. 
Guards, mechanicallH formed In ranks. 
Cowper, Table-Talk, L 136. 
4. Without loss of the constitution or identity 
< Or. 'finxoviafia, contrivance, < *fiiixavi(etv, con- 
trive, < fitix a rf> contrivance: see machine, me- 
chanic.] 1 . The structure of a machine, engine, 
or other contrivance for controlling or utilizing 
natural forces; the arrangement and relation of 
parts, or the parts collectively, in any machine, 
tool, or other contrivance ; means of mechani- 
cal action; machinery; hence, the structure of 
anything that is conceived to resemble a ma- 
chine. 
The mechanism that is, the bulk and figure of the bone 
and muscles, and the insertion of the muscle into the bone. 
A. Qrcw, Coamologia Sacra, II. 6. 
Although many authors have spoken of the wonderful 
mechanism of speech, none has hitherto attended to the 
far more wonderful mechanism which it puts into action 
behind the scene. D. Steirart, Human Mind, II. II. 2. 
It will not do therefore to say that light Is propagated 
through air In one way, by one sort of mechanism, when 
the air Is very rare, and by another when the air Is very 
dense. Stokes, Light, p. 79. 
The mind is not content to have connections of Ideas Im- 
posed on It by the mechanism of perception and memory. 
Lotxe, Microcosrnus (trans.), I. 232. 
2. A mechanical contrivance or agency of any 
kind ; in general, the apparatus, means, or mode 
by which particular effects are produced or pur- 
poses accomplished: as, the mechanism of a 
musical instrument (the apparatus by means of 
which the performer acts upon it); the mecha- 
nism of a play or of a poem ; the mechanism of 
of elements: inn manner involving change of government. 3f. Action according to the laws 
place or figure without change of structure or of mechanics; mechanical action, 
constitution ; without the aid of chemical at- After U)e chy]e hM pagged tnrougn the lungg> Miun 
traction: as, elements mechiintcally united in continues her usual mechanism to convert It into animal 
air; a body mechanically decomposed. substances. ArbvUnot, Alimenta. 
