mechanic

1549 (adj.) "pertaining to or involving mechanical labor" (now usually mechanical), from L. mechanicus (n. and adj.), from Gk. mekhanikos "an engineer" (n.), also "resourceful, inventive," lit. "pertaining to machines" (adj.), from mekhane (see machine). The noun meaning originally was "manual laborer" (1390); sense of "one who is employed in manual labor, a handicraft worker, an artisan (chief sense through early 19c.) is attested from 1562. The adj. meaning "of the nature of or pertaining to machines" is from 1625; the noun sense of "skilled workman who is concerned with making or repair of machinery" is from 1662, but not the main sense until the rise of the automobile. Mechanical is attested from 1432 in the sense "of or pertaining to machines;" of persons or human actions, "resembling machines, automatic" it is from 1607. Mechanize is attested from 1678.