Meanings
plural time machines
- literatureA hypothetical device used to travel into the past or the future.
If I had a time machine / And if life was a movie scene / I'd rewind, and I'd tell me / "Ru-u-u-u-u-u-u-un"
2014, Ingrid Michaelson, Trent Dabbs, busbee, “Time Machine”, in Lights Out, performed by Ingrid Michaelson - informalSomething that appears to take a person or thing to another time, for example through nostalgia or delay.
Conrad Riker, The Last Days of Manhood Mayo Clinic research shows heavy squats spike growth hormone by 530%. That's not exercise — it's a time machine for your cells.
1 more example
It's a time machine for Photoshop. It's magic. Image makers can not just combine different images, but different points in time from each image.
2017, Fine Art Photoshop: Diving Into the World of Photographic Art
Origin
Coined by British science fiction author H. G. Wells in 1895 in his novel The Time Machine.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic آلَةُ زَمَن
- آلَةُ زَمَن (ʔālatu zaman)device used to travel in time
Bengali টাইম মেশিন
- টাইম মেশিন (ṭaim meśin)device used to travel in time
Bulgarian маши́на на вре́ме
- маши́на на вре́ме (mašína na vréme)device used to travel in time
Chinese Cantonese 時間機器 /时间机器
- 時間機器 /时间机器 (si⁴ gaan³ gei¹ hei³)device used to travel in time
Chinese Mandarin 時間機器 /时间机器, 時光機 /时光机
- 時間機器 /时间机器 (shíjiān jīqì)device used to travel in time
- 時光機 /时光机 (shíguāngjī)device used to travel in time
Czech stroj času
- stroj časudevice used to travel in time
Danish tidsmaskine
- tidsmaskinedevice used to travel in time
Dutch tijdmachine
- tijdmachinedevice used to travel in time
Esperanto tempomaŝino
- tempomaŝinodevice used to travel in time
Estonian ajamasin
- ajamasindevice used to travel in time
Finnish aikakone
- aikakonedevice used to travel in time
French machine à explorer le temps, machine à voyager dans le temps
- machine à explorer le tempsdevice used to travel in time
- machine à voyager dans le tempsdevice used to travel in time
- machine à remonter le tempsdevice used to travel in time
German Zeitmaschine
- Zeitmaschinedevice used to travel in time
Greek χρονομηχανή, μηχανή του χρόνου
- χρονομηχανή (chronomichaní)device used to travel in time
- μηχανή του χρόνου (michaní tou chrónou)device used to travel in time
Hebrew מְכוֹנַת זְמַן
- מְכוֹנַת זְמַן (m'khonát zmán)device used to travel in time
Hindi टाइम मशीन
- टाइम मशीन (ṭāim maśīn)device used to travel in time
Hungarian időgép
- időgépdevice used to travel in time
Icelandic tímavél
- tímavéldevice used to travel in time
Indonesian mesin waktu
- mesin waktudevice used to travel in time
Irish meaisín ama
- meaisín amadevice used to travel in time
Italian macchina del tempo
- macchina del tempodevice used to travel in time
Japanese タイムマシン, タイムマシーン
- タイムマシン (taimumashin)device used to travel in time
- タイムマシーン (taimumashīn)device used to travel in time
Korean 타임머신
- 타임머신 (taimmeosin)device used to travel in time
Latin māchina temporis
- māchina temporisdevice used to travel in time
Latvian laika mašīna
- laika mašīnadevice used to travel in time
Lithuanian laiko mašina
- laiko mašinadevice used to travel in time
Malay mesin masa
- mesin masadevice used to travel in time
Norwegian Bokmål tidsmaskin
- tidsmaskindevice used to travel in time
Polish wehikuł czasu
- wehikuł czasudevice used to travel in time
Portuguese máquina do tempo
- máquina do tempodevice used to travel in time
Romanian mașina timpului
- mașina timpuluidevice used to travel in time
Russian маши́на вре́мени
- маши́на вре́мени (mašína vrémeni)device used to travel in time
Slovak časostroj, stroj času
- časostrojdevice used to travel in time
- stroj časudevice used to travel in time
Spanish máquina del tiempo
- máquina del tiempodevice used to travel in time
Swedish tidsmaskin
- tidsmaskindevice used to travel in time
Thai เครื่องย้อนเวลา
- เครื่องย้อนเวลา (krʉ̂ʉang-yɔ́ɔn-wee-laa)device used to travel in time
Turkish zaman makinesi
- zaman makinesidevice used to travel in time
Ukrainian маши́на ча́су
- маши́на ча́су (mašýna čásu)device used to travel in time
Urdu ٹائِم مَشِین
- ٹائِم مَشِین (ṭāim maśīn)device used to travel in time
Vietnamese cỗ máy thời gian
- cỗ máy thời giandevice used to travel in time
Welsh peiriant amser
- peiriant amserdevice used to travel in time
Cite this entry
time machine. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20machine
“time machine.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20machine. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “time machine,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/time%20machine.
Source: time machine on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.