dea ex machina
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
An alteration of Latin deus ex māchinā in English, substituting the masculine or epicene deus (“god”) with the feminine dea (“goddess”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
dea ex machina (plural deae ex machina)
- 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.
Related terms[edit]
- deus ex machina (epicene or masculine)