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First appears in Japanese in a text from 718 CE with the 器械 spelling and a sense of weapon.[1]
Later appears in a text from 1520 as 機械(kikai) with a sense of apparatus, device, machine, mechanism,[1] replacing 器(ki, “utensil; tool”) with 機(ki, “weavingloom; apparatus”) and reflecting changes in usage and meaning. This spelling may be a Japanese innovation, and it only becomes prominent from around 1874.[2] Prior to that, this term was more commonly written with the original 器械 spelling.[2]
In modern Japanese, some definitions distinguish the 機械 and 器械 spellings with 機械 used for those machines that include their own motive power, and 器械 for those that have no power of their own.[1][3] General usage appears to be broader, differentiating the two spellings by the size of the item, with 器械 used for a smaller apparatus or device, and 機械 used for a larger apparatus or equipment.[1][4] These broad distinctions generally also hold true for the suffixes 器(-ki) and 機(-ki).
Sometimes more specifically distinguished such that a 機械(kikai) comprises a motive power source, a means of transmitting that force, and a component that performs the work, whereas any mechanism that does not have all three would be a 器械(kikai).[1][3]