different between mechanical vs waitron

English

Etymology

From Middle English mechanical, mechanicalle, mechanycalle, equivalent to mechanic +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /m??kæn?k(?)l/

Adjective

mechanical (comparative more mechanical, superlative most mechanical)

1. (now rare) Characteristic of someone who does manual labour for a living; coarse, vulgar.
2. Related to mechanics (the branch of physics that deals with forces acting on mass).

3. Related to mechanics (the design and construction of machines).

4. Done by machine.

5. Using mechanics (the design and construction of machines): being a machine.

6. As if performed by a machine: lifeless or mindless.

7. (of a person) Acting as if one were a machine: lifeless or mindless.
8. (informal) Handy with machines.

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

mechanical (plural mechanicals)

1. (advertising) Manually created layout of artwork that is camera ready for photographic reproduction.
   • 2009, New York State Sales and Use Tax Law and Regulations

     In order to produce the posters, the advertising agency purchases photographs, composition and artwork and fabricates such property to produce layouts and mechanicals.

2. One who does manual labor, especially one who is similar to Shakespeare's rude mechanicals
3. (science fiction) A robot or mechanical creature.
4. (engineering) A mechanical engineer.
5. (cycling) An instance of equipment failure.
6. (music) A stop on an organ that is operated by a hand or foot control rather than having to be manually set up in advance.
7. (archaic) A machine that performs a job typically accomplished using an animal or manual labor.

Synonyms

• (camera-ready artwork): pasteup

Further reading

• "mechanical" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 201.

English

Etymology 1

Coined as a gender-neutral substitute for waiter and waitress, this is one of the few words with the gender-neutral suffix -ron to have seen much use, probably re-inforced by rhyming with patron. (Some references instead analyse it as using the same "machinelike" suffix -tron as waitron (“mechanical waiter”), but more likely it uses -ron like laundron and like waiter and waitress use -er/-ress not *-ter/*-tress.)

Noun

waitron (plural waitrons)

1. (nonstandard, rare) A waiter or waitress.
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:waitron.

Synonyms

• waitperson
• waitstaff (collective)
• server

References

Etymology 2

From waiter +? -tron.

Noun

waitron (plural waitrons)

1. (dated, science fiction) A robotic or mechanical waiter.