c. 1600, "to lay plots, intrigue," a back-formation from machination, or else from Latin machinatus, past participle of machinari "to contrive skillfully; to design, scheme, plot." Transitive sense of "to plan, contrive, form (a plot, scheme, etc.)" also is from c. 1600. Related: Machinated; machinating; machinator.

late 15c., machinacion, "a plotting, an intrigue," from Old French machinacion "plot, conspiracy, scheming, intrigue" and directly from Latin machinationem (nominative machinatio) "device, contrivance, machination," noun of action from past-participle stem of machinari "to contrive skillfully, to design; to scheme, to plot," from machina "machine, engine; device trick" (see machine (n.)). Related: Machinations.

"plotter, schemer. one who schemes with evil designs," 1610s, from Latin machinator, agent noun from past-participle stem of machinari "to design, contrive, plot," from machina "machine, engine; device, trick" (see machine (n.)).

1540s, "structure of any kind," from Middle French machine "device, contrivance," from Latin machina "machine, engine, military machine; device, trick; instrument" (source also of Spanish maquina, Italian macchina), from Greek makhana, Doric variant of Attic mēkhanē "device, tool, machine;" also "contrivance, cunning," traditionally (Watkins) from PIE *magh-ana- "that which enables," from root *magh- "to be able, have power." But Beekes, on formal grounds, objects to the connection to words in Germanic and Slavic. He finds the Greek word isolated and is convinced that it is Pre-Greek.

Main modern sense of "device made of moving parts for applying mechanical power" (1670s) probably grew out of mid-17c. senses of "apparatus, appliance" and "military siege-tower."  It gradually came to be applied to an apparatus that works without the strength or skill of the workman.

From 17c.-19c. also "a vehicle; a stage- or mail-coach; a ship," and, from 1901, "a motor-car." Also in late 19c. slang the word was used for both "penis" and "vagina," one of the few so honored.

The political sense "a strict organization of the working members of a political party to secure a predominating influence for themselves and their associates" is U.S. slang, attested by 1876. Machine age, a time notable for the extensive use of mechanical devices, is attested by 1882, though there is this:

The idea of remodelling society at public meetings is one of the least reasonable which ever entered the mind of an agitator: and the notion that the relations of the sexes can be re-arranged and finally disposed of by preamble and resolution, is one of the latest, as it should have been the last, vagary of a machine age. ["The Literary World," Nov. 1, 1851]

Machine for living (in) "house" translates Le Corbusier's machine à habiter (1923).

mid-15c., "decide, resolve," from Old French and Latin usages, from Latin machina "machine, engine, military machine; device, trick; instrument," from Greek makhana, Doric variant of Attic mēkhanē "device, tool; contrivance, cunning" (see machine (n.)). Meaning "to apply machinery to, to make or form on or by the aid of a machine" is from 1878. Related: Machined; machining.

"a gun which by means of a mechanism delivers a continuous fire of projectiles," 1870, from machine (n.) + gun (n.). As a verb, "to shoot down or kill by means of a machine gun," it is attested by 1915. Related: Machine-gunned; machine-gunning; machine-gunner.

A man is entitled to the fruits of his labor, and to assert a just claim is a duty as well as a right. In the year 1861 I first conceived the idea of a machine gun, which has been ever since the great controlling idea of my life; and it certainly cannot be regarded as egotism when I express the belief that I am the originator of the first successful weapon of the kind ever invented. [R.J. Gatling, quoted in Scientific American, Oct. 15, 1870]

Though in the light of subsequent advancements Gatling's invention of 1862 is not considered a modern machine-gun.

"made by a machine or machinery" (opposed to man-made), by 1837, from machine (n.) + made.

"workshop in which machines or parts of machines are made and repaired," 1827, from machine (n.) + shop (n.).

1680s; from machine (n.) + -ery. Originally theatrical, "devices for creating stage effects" (which also was a sense of Greek mēkhanē); meaning "machines or parts of machines considered collectively," is attested from 1731. Transferred meaning "any complex system of (non-mechanical) means to carry on a particular work" is by 1770. Middle English had machinament "a contrivance" (early 15c.).

1706, "engineer, mechanical inventor, constructor of machines and engines," a hybrid from machine (n.) + -ist. Meaning "machine operator" is attested from 1879; in  U.S. Navy ratings, "an engine-room artificer or attendant," by 1880.