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deus ex machina

de·us ex ma·chi·na
D d

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [dey-uh s eks mah-kuh-nuh, dee-uh s eks mak-uh-nuh]
    • /ˈdeɪ əs ɛks ˈmɑ kə nə, ˈdi əs ɛks ˈmæk ə nə/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [dey-uh s eks mah-kuh-nuh, dee-uh s eks mak-uh-nuh]
    • /ˈdeɪ əs ɛks ˈmɑ kə nə, ˈdi əs ɛks ˈmæk ə nə/

Definitions of deus ex machina words

  • noun deus ex machina (in ancient Greek and Roman drama) a god introduced into a play to resolve the plot 3
  • noun deus ex machina any unlikely or artificial device serving this purpose 3
  • noun deus ex machina in ancient Greek and Roman plays, a deity brought in by stage machinery to intervene in the action 3
  • noun deus ex machina any unconvincing character or event brought artificially into the plot of a story or drama to settle an involved situation 3
  • noun deus ex machina (in ancient Greek and Roman drama) a god introduced into a play to resolve the entanglements of the plot. 1
  • noun deus ex machina any artificial or improbable device resolving the difficulties of a plot. 1
See all 8 definitions of deus ex machina

Information block about the term

Origin of deus ex machina

First appearance:

before 1690
One of the 49% oldest English words
1690-1700; < New Latin literally, god from a machine (i.e., stage machinery from which a deity's statue was lowered), as translation of Greek apò mēchanês theós (Demosthenes), theòs ek mēchanês (Menander), etc.

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Deus ex machina

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Deus ex machina

deus ex machina popularity

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 29% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.
According to our data about 74% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

deus ex machina usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for deus ex machina

noun deus ex machina

  • contrivance — If you describe something as a contrivance, you disapprove of it because it is unnecessary and artificial.
  • device — A device is an object that has been invented for a particular purpose, for example for recording or measuring something.
  • gimmick — an ingenious or novel device, scheme, or stratagem, especially one designed to attract attention or increase appeal.
All 3 Synonyms of deus ex machina

See also

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