late 14c., "pertaining to or involving mechanical labor" (now usually mechanical), also "having to do with tools," from Latin mechanicus, from Greek mekhanikos "full of resources, inventive, ingenious," literally "mechanical, pertaining to machines," from mekhane (see machine (n.)). Meaning "of the nature of or pertaining to machines" is from 1620s.
"manual laborer," late 14c., from Latin mechanicus, from Greek mekhanikos "an engineer," noun use of adjective meaning "full of resources, inventive, ingenious" (see mechanic (adj.)). Sense of "one who is employed in manual labor, a handicraft worker, an artisan" (chief sense through early 19c.) is attested from 1560s. Sense of "skilled workman who is concerned with making or repair of machinery" is from 1660s, but not the main sense until the rise of the automobile.
mechanics me·chan·ics (mĭ-kān'ĭks)
n.
The branch of physics concerned with the analysis of the action of forces on matter or material systems.
The design, construction, and use of machinery or of mechanical structures.
The functional and technical aspects of an activity.
mechanics (mĭ-kān'ĭks)
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The branch of physics that deals with the motion of material objects. The term mechanics generally refers to the motion of large objects, whereas the study of motion at the level of the atom or smaller is the domain of quantum mechanics.
Note: The basic laws of mechanics are Newton's laws of motion.