engineer

[en-juh-neer]

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.

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

/ 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

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of engineer¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of engineer¹

C14: enginer, from Old French engigneor, from engignier to contrive, ultimately from Latin ingenium skill, talent; see _engine

Example Sentences

It didn’t take long for the engineers on the pit wall to realize that they had handed Verstappen a huge advantage.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

And the tool relies heavily on the underlying artificial-intelligence models of companies such as OpenAI and Anthropic, which are actively competing for the same software engineering users who have made Cursor a runaway hit.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

In earlier work published in Nature Neuroscience this year, Watanabe applied the method to genetically engineered mice to investigate the role of a protein called intersectin.

Read more on Science Daily

“This is going to expand the market of computing into the world of design and engineering for the very first time,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said in an interview with CNBC.

Read more on Barron's

The companies will work together on AI engineering and developments related to physical AI.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

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