engineer

American  

[en-juh-neer] / ˌɛn dʒəˈnɪər /

noun

1. a person trained and skilled in the design, construction, and use of engines or machines, or in any of various branches of engineering.

   a mechanical engineer; a civil engineer.

2. a person who operates or is in charge of an engine.

3. Also called locomotive engineer.  Railroads. a person who operates or is in charge of a locomotive.

4. a member of an army, navy, or air force specially trained in engineering work.

5. Digital Technology. a person skilled in the design and programming of computer systems.

   a software engineer;

   a web engineer.

6. a skillful manager.

   a political engineer.

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verb (used with object)

1. to plan, construct, or manage as an engineer.

   He's engineered several big industrial projects.

2. to design or create using the techniques or methods of engineering.

   The motor has been engineered to run noiselessly.

3. to arrange, manage, or carry through by skillful or artful contrivance.

   He certainly engineered the election campaign beautifully.

engineer British  

/ ˌɛndʒɪˈnɪə /

noun

1. a person trained in any branch of the profession of engineering

2. the originator or manager of a situation, system, etc

3. a mechanic; person who repairs or services machines

4. the driver of a railway locomotive

5. an officer responsible for a ship's engines

6. Informal name: sapper.  a member of the armed forces, esp the army, trained in engineering and construction work

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verb

1. to originate, cause, or plan in a clever or devious manner

   he engineered the minister's downfall

2. to design, plan, or construct as a professional engineer

Other Word Forms

• subengineer noun
• unengineered adjective
• well-engineered adjective

Etymology

Origin of engineer

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English; engine + -eer; replacing Middle English engin(e)our, from Anglo-French engineor, Old French engigneor, from Medieval Latin ingeniātor, from ingeniā(re) “to design, devise” (derivative of ingenium “nature, innate quality, mental power, clever invention”; engine ) + Latin -tor -tor

Example Sentences

Rheinmetall said it will offer a digital environment for engineers in Germany and Australia to test new software and innovations.

From The Wall Street Journal

Not only are they accomplished pilots, engineers and scientists, they are also spouses and parents balancing a heroic adventure against the risks they and their loved ones will face.

From BBC

Amazon has suffered a spate of outages, some of them lasting hours, since it began entrusting more software coding responsibilities to AI bots while laying off human engineers, according to the Financial Times.

From Los Angeles Times

"I hope one day that it could be enough," said Kumar, who works as an engineer at a New York tech startup.

From Barron's

BDC managers such as Blue Owl Capital have engineered asset sales to cover shareholder redemptions.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• arrange
• come up with
• conceive
• concoct
• create
• direct
• manage
• manipulate
• negotiate
• organize
• set up
• supervise