machination

From French machination, or directly from Latin māchinātiō, from māchinor (“devise, invent”).

• IPA^(key): /ˌmækɪˈneɪʃən/, /ˌmæʃɪˈneɪʃən/

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• Rhymes: -eɪʃən

machination (countable and uncountable, plural machinations)

1. A clever scheme or artful plot, usually crafted for evil purposes.
   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, scene ii], page 286, column 2:

     Machinations, hollowneſſe, treacherie, and all ruinous diſorders follow vs diſquietly to our Graues.

2. The act of machinating or plotting.

• machinal
• machinate

• machination in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• machination in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

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machination f (plural machinations)

1. Undercover or underhanded plot; machination.

• “machination” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).