How to spell machine

Machine is spelled M-A-C-H-I-N-E. The SH sound is spelled CH, and it ends -INE with a silent E, like routine.

hear itma·chine/mə'ʃin/nounSilent and tricky

What it means: A piece of equipment that uses power to do work.

In a sentence: The machine helps us wash our clothes.

Same family: machinery, machine-like, mechanic, mechanical. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Machine” comes from the French word “machine” and the Latin “machina,” which originally meant a device or contrivance, especially one used in theaters or war. Over time, the meaning narrowed to mechanical devices, and in some varieties of English it’s also used informally to mean a car.

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