Machin

From machun, from Anglo-Norman machun, masson, from Frankish *makjo (“maker; builder; see make”). More at mason.

• IPA^(key): /ˈmeɪt͡ʃɪn/

Machin

1. A surname originating as an occupation.

Machin (plural Machins)

1. (philately) Any of a British series of definitive stamps designed by Arnold Machin, first issued in 1967 and featuring a side view portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

• Downey Heads
• Wilding

• D. G. A. Myall, The Complete Deegam Machin Handbook, Bridport (Dorset), Deegam Publications, 1993

• chiman, manchi

Back-formation from machine.

Machin m (plural Machins, feminine Machine)

1. (informal) what's-his-face; A general word used to designate a person whom one does not know how to name more precisely, in particular whose name has been forgotten
   • Dans un café de P*, capitale de la F*, un jeune Marocain, m’ayant civilement (« Vous êtes bien Machin, le gazetier ? »), m’affirme de manière véhémente que je dois entendre son histoire.

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

     (Fouad Laroui, Né nulle part, from the collection L’Étrange Affaire du pantalon de Dassoukine, 2012, p. 41)

   • Elle se promenait avec Machin ; j’ai oublié son nom.