dea ex machina

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English

Etymology

An alteration of Latin deus ex māchinā in English, substituting the masculine or epicene deus (god) with the feminine dea (goddess).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌdɪə ɛks ˈmakɪnə/

Noun

dea ex machina (plural deae ex machina)

  1. A female deus ex machina; a providential intervention (in a story etc.) from a female force or character.
    • 1999, Philip Pullman, “The Path Through the Wood”, in Daemon Voices, Vintage, published 2017, page 79:
      That's the end of her story—the Cinderella path—but it's not the end of her life, which is just as well, because the poor little rat-boy ends up in desperate need of a dea ex machina in order to save him from the terrible fate towards which the path of his story seems to be taking him.