Dea ex Machina

English translation: Dea ex machina

17:50 Aug 14, 2000
French to English translations [Non-PRO]
French term or phrase: Dea ex Machina
Dea ex Machina...
Jessica
English translation:Dea ex machina
Explanation:
This is a latin expression and I would say it is the same in French and in English. I must say I have always seen it in the form of "deus ex machina". It was an expression used in theatre, where the actors representing gods and godesses were lowered with the help of machines "god from the machinery". My dictionary says that "deus ex machina", as a modern meaning, is "an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially in a play or novel, but figuratively also in every day life.
Selected response from:

Louise Atfield
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Graded automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
naDea ex machina
Louise Atfield
naDea...
Moli?re
naGoddess saves the day
Tamara Salvio
nadeus ex machina
Nikki Scott-Despaigne


  

Answers


33 mins
Dea ex machina


Explanation:
This is a latin expression and I would say it is the same in French and in English. I must say I have always seen it in the form of "deus ex machina". It was an expression used in theatre, where the actors representing gods and godesses were lowered with the help of machines "god from the machinery". My dictionary says that "deus ex machina", as a modern meaning, is "an unexpected power or event saving a seemingly hopeless situation, especially in a play or novel, but figuratively also in every day life.

Louise Atfield
PRO pts in pair: 300
Grading comment
Graded automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Heathcliff

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
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1 hr
Dea...


Explanation:


" Dea ex Machina"

"Déesse de la Machine"

Litéralement car je ne connait pas la phrase complète. J'espére de cela vous aide. Hope it helps
M.A.


    Dictionnaire HATIER Latin/Fran�ais
Moli?re
Canada
Local time: 06:23

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Heathcliff

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
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3 hrs
Goddess saves the day


Explanation:
I concur with the first response...it is usually seen as "Deus ex machina" or "a god descended by the means of a machine" and comes from Greek and Roman mythology whereby a god would descend from on high to resolve an otherwise hopeless situation. The common usage is to describe a person or event appearing at an opportune moment to do the same.

The fact that your author substitues "Dea" for "Deus" must mean that in this situation it is a female person (or Goddess) who saves the situation or the day and the author wishes to highlight that. If it must be translated, that's how I would address it, otherwise, if the intended audience is at all literary, leave as is.


    Larousse
Tamara Salvio
United States
Local time: 03:23
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 225

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
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7 hrs
deus ex machina


Explanation:
= un dieu descendu au moyen d'une machine. Phrase used to describe a person or an event who/which arrives just in time to save someone from a situation from which there is no escape.

This Latin form is used in English too.

In the theatre, you refer to seats being "up in the gods", which means the seats right up at the back, really high (you hear and see almost nothing!) and are favoured by students as they cost almost nothing.


    Larousse 2000
Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 12:23
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 4638
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