Kilo Lingo

le

masculine

/ma.ʃɛ̃/

Line drawing of machin
Coloured illustration of machin
#3189 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

thingy, whatsit

Word origin

A familiar shortening of machine, used as a placeholder for an unnamed object or person. Machine comes from Latin machina, from Greek mekhane ('device, contrivance').

Origin
Greek
Root
mekhane
English cognates
machine, mechanic, mechanism

Grammar

Gendermasculine
Pluralmachins

Examples

- , ' .

Pass me that thingy on the table, please.

fonctionne.

I don't know how this thingy works.

tiroir.

There's a strange thingy in the drawer.

prêter ?

Can you lend me your whatsit to open the box?

' .

This thingy costs too much for what it is.

Add to review queue

Track this word in your spaced-repetition queue and be tested on it at the right interval.

Go to my review queue

This word is part of lesson 64.