E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Deus (2 syl.).
Deus ex ma’china. The intervention of a god, or some unlikely event, in order to extricate from difficulties in which a clumsy author has involved himself; any forced incident, such as the arrival of a rich uncle from the Indies to help a young couple in their pecuniary embarrassments. Literally, it means “a god (let down upon the stage or flying in the air) by machinery.”
