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74 MAN
M.
MACIIINE, s. in general signifies any thing that serves to
nugmcnt or to }"cgulate moving powers, or it is nny
hody destined to prodnce motion, so as to save either
time or force. The word comes from fL'fJXa.vi], mecllalle,
a machine. In strictness, a r~,achinc is something
which consists morc in art and invention than in the
strength and solidity ofthe materials, for which reason
it is thatthe inventors ofmachines arc called engineers.
The word Machine is nearly synonymous with
engine, a term altogether modern, and bestowed
chiefly on contrivances for executing work, in which
much ingenuity and mechanical skill arc manifest.
Indeed, the term engine is limited, by careful writers,
to machines of considerable magnitude, or of considerable
art and contrivance. Thus we say with
propriety, a steam engine, and a fire engine; a copying
machine, and an electrical machine.
l\facro-cosm, s. See KOS'IOS, p. 18.
Mamma, s. Some etymologists derive this word from
the Greek papa, mama, or papp.a, mamma: but it
appears that" this word, like PAPA, is one of those of
which it is needless to seek the etymology in any
language, and which is formed by nature in the
mouth even of infants. In all countries infants begin
to speak by pronouncing the labial letters (viz. m, b,
p, j), because they are the most easily pronounced;
and the first sounds which we hear from them are,
ma, pa, em, &c.
" TJlese 'words, thus dictated by nature, have been
adopted by fathers and mothers in all countries.
Thus, for example, in the Hebrew we find em; in
the Syriac and Arabic, ~ma;in the Chaldean, imma;
in Latin and Italian, mamma; in Spanish, mama;
in the Dutch, mcm; and in German, memme.~J
Mano-meter, s. See l\fETRON, p. 19. .