mecha

See also: mechá

English

A spray painted image depicting a mecha on a space background.

Etymology

From Japanese メカ (meka), from an abbreviation of the English mechanical.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛkə
• Homophone: mecca

Noun

mecha (plural mechas or mecha)

1. (anime, manga) A large armoured robot on legs, typically controlled by a pilot seated inside.
   • 1997, Helen McCarthy, The anime movie guide:

     Having deprived her of both her mecha and her lover, Masato looks set for a nasty end, but Miku arrives to save him.

   • 2002, Christopher Hart, Anime mania: how to draw characters for Japanese animation:

     A transformation occurs when a mecha character, vehicle, or weapon unfolds and reassembles itself in a totally new form.

   • 2006, Dani Cavallaro, The animé art of Hayao Miyazaki:

     Porco Rosso evinces a deep fascination with mechanical objects of all sorts but it is by no means a mecha movie...

   • 2007, Frenchy Lunning, Mechademia 2: Networks of Desire:

     Each week the good guys fight the bad guys and vanquish them in a mecha battle, only to have the bad guys reappear intact the following week.

   • 2007, Robin E. Brenner, Understanding manga and anime, page 170:

     […] to be a “lifter”—to pilot a mecha that can also transform into an air board […]

   • 2011, Kensuke Okabayashi, Manga For Dummies, page 275:

     In this section, I show you mechas that are large enough to be piloted by humans from the inside. Although most of them are designed for combat, some function as transportation or construction mechas.

Coordinate terms

• walker

Translations

armoured robot

Chinese: Mandarin: 機甲／机甲 (zh) (jījiǎ) Finnish: mecha (fi) French: mecha (fr) Indonesian: meka Japanese: メカ (ja) Korean: 메카 (ko) (meka) Marathi: मेका m (mekā) Russian: ме́ха (ru) (méxa), мех (ru) m (mex) Spanish: mecha (es)

Anagrams

• Cheam, mâche, mache, Achem, meach, Mache

Galician

Mecha ("wick")

Etymology

15th century. From Old French mesche.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmet͡ʃa̝/

Noun

mecha f (plural mechas)

1. wick (burning cord)

   Synonyms: matula, pabío, torcida

   • 1455, X. Ferro Couselo, editor, A vida e a fala dos devanceiros. Escolma de documentos en galego dos séculos XIII ao XVI, page 315:

     et fogil et ysca et candea de çera et hun pente e mechas de xofre e hun cordón de sedas

     and a tinderbox, and tinder, and a candle made of wax, and a comb, and sulfur wicks, and a silk cord

2. lock of hair

References

• Xavier Varela Barreiro, Xavier Gómez Guinovart (2006–2018) “mecha”, in Corpus Xelmírez - Corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: ILG
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “mecha”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “mecha”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “mecha”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN

1. Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1983–1991) “mecha”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critic Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), Madrid: Gredos

Japanese

Romanization

mecha

1. Rōmaji transcription of めちゃ

Lower Sorbian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɛxa/, [ˈmæxa]

Noun

mecha

1. inflection of mech:
   1. genitive singular
   2. nominative/accusative dual

Mayo

Noun

mecha

1. Obsolete spelling of meecha.

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from French mèche.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.ʃɐ/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.ʃɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.ʃa/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.ʃɐ/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.ʃɐ/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈmɛ.t͡ʃɐ/

Noun

mecha f (plural mechas)

1. lock (length of hair)

   Synonyms: cacho, madeixa

2. wick (burning cord of a candle)

   Synonym: pavio

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmet͡ʃa/ [ˈme.t͡ʃa]
• Rhymes: -etʃa
• Syllabification: me‧cha

Etymology 1

Perhaps borrowed from French mèche.

Noun

mecha f (plural mechas)

1. wick, fuse
2. lock (length of hair)

   Synonym: bucle

3. (in the plural, hair) highlights

   Synonym: rizo

Derived terms

• a toda mecha
• mecha de lado
• mecha de seguridad
• mechero
• mechón

 

See also

• espoleta
• fusible

 

Etymology 2

Verb

mecha

1. inflection of mechar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “mecha”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28