Mechanism \Mech"an*ism\, n. [Cf. F. m['e]canisme, L. mechanisma.
See Mechanic.]
1. The arrangement or relation of the parts of a machine; the
parts of a machine, taken collectively; the arrangement or
relation of the parts of anything as adapted to produce an
effect; as, the mechanism of a watch; the mechanism of a
sewing machine; the mechanism of a seed pod.
[1913 Webster]
2. The series of causal relations that operate to produce an
effect in any system; as, the mechanism of a chemical
reaction.
[PJC]
3. Mechanical operation or action.
[1913 Webster]
He acknowledges nothing besides matter and motion;
so that all must be performed either by mechanism or
accident. --Bentley.
[1913 Webster]
4. (Kinematics) An ideal machine; a combination of movable
bodies constituting a machine, but considered only with
regard to relative movements.
[1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
mechanism
n 1: the atomic process that occurs during a chemical reaction;
"he determined unique mechanisms for the photochemical
reactions" [syn: chemical mechanism]
2: the technical aspects of doing something; "a mechanism of
social control"; "mechanisms of communication"; "the
mechanics of prose style" [syn: mechanics]
3: a natural object resembling a machine in structure or
function; "the mechanism of the ear"; "the mechanism of
infection"
4: (philosophy) the philosophical theory that all phenomena can
be explained in terms of physical or biological causes
5: device consisting of a piece of machinery; has moving parts
that perform some function
WordNet (r) 2.0
149 Moby Thesaurus words for "mechanism":
Charlie McCarthy, Marxism, action, agency, agent, ancilla,
animalism, apparatus, appliance, approach, arrangement, art,
atomism, automatic switch, behaviorism, channel selector,
check valve, clockworks, commonsense realism, contour follower,
contrivance, control valve, convenience, craft, creature, device,
dialectical materialism, drive, drive train, dummy, dupe,
earthliness, electronic control, emergency control, empiricism,
engine, enginery, epiphenomenalism, expedient, facility,
finder switch, fixture, flowmanostat, gear, go-between,
going between, handmaid, handmaiden, historical materialism,
hylomorphism, hylotheism, hylozoism, implement, innards,
instrument, instrumentality, interagent, intermediary,
intermediate, intermediation, intermedium, internal selector,
lever, machine, machinery, materialism, means, mechanical aid,
mechanical device, mechanics, mediation, mediator, medium, method,
midwife, minion, monism, motion, motive power, motor, movement,
movements, natural realism, naturalism, new realism, organ,
organization, pawn, physicalism, physicism, plaything,
positive philosophy, positivism, power plant, power source,
power train, pragmaticism, pragmatism, procedure, process, puppet,
realism, recourse, rectifier, register regulator,
representative realism, resort, safety control, safety fuse,
safety stop, safety switch, safety valve, science, secularism,
selector switch, sequence switch, servant, service, servo valve,
servomechanism, skill, slave, stooge, structure, substantialism,
system, technic, technical know-how, technical knowledge,
technical skill, technics, technique, technology, temporality,
thermoswitch, timer, tool, toy, utility, vehicle,
voltage regulator, voltage stabilizer, watchworks, way, wheels,
wheels within wheels, workings, works, worldliness
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
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