engineer

American  

[en-juh-neer] / ˌɛn dʒəˈnɪər /

noun

• engineers
  plural

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)

• engineers,
  present (3rd person singular)
• engineered,
  past participle,  past
• engineering
  present participle

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

Derived Forms

• subengineer
  noun
• unengineered
  adjective
• well-engineered
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• engineers
  plural

Participles

• engineering
  present
• engineered
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• engineer
  simple
• engineers
  simple
• have engineered
  perfect
• has engineered
  perfect
• am engineering
  progressive
• are engineering
  progressive
• is engineering
  progressive
• have been engineering
  perfect progressive
• has been engineering
  perfect progressive

Past

• engineered
  simple
• had engineered
  perfect
• was engineering
  progressive
• were engineering
  progressive
• had been engineering
  perfect progressive

Future

• will engineer
  simple
• will have engineered
  perfect
• will be engineering
  progressive
• will have been engineering
  perfect progressive

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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

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Explanation

An engineer is someone who possesses the knowledge or expertise to create and implement plans or build machines. Even if you're not an engineer, when you engineer you make plans and solve problems. An interesting part of the word engineer is the suffix -eer, which turns a word into one that means someone who does something indicated by the base it is affixed to — a mountaineer climbs mountains, an auctioneer presides at auctions, an engineer designs, coming from the Old French engin, which means "skill or cleverness." If you want to become an engineer, you'll have to study all kinds of mechanical systems, not just engines.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

engineer engineers engineered engineering

These are some of the prompts an engineer arrested by federal authorities last week is accused of submitting to an artificial intelligence chatbot to program a recording device hidden in an OpenAI conference room.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

He said many portfolio managers would prefer to own Nvidia headed into 2027 rather than the athletic apparel company that’s struggling to engineer a turnaround.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

After learning the basics, Draper left his father’s firm three years later to set up a new venture-capital operation, Draper & Johnson, with a friend, Pitch Johnson, who was an engineer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

"All summer long, I've been picking up bits of drones washed up on the beach," added Baronov, a mechanical engineer by training who harbours a fascination with military hardware.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

“There are no theories how to engineer the device,” he says sadly.

From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife

Once the coronagraph's focus had been optimized, engineers returned to the Wide Field Instrument for another round of adjustments.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

In a letter to director general Matt Brittin, actors, writers, directors and sound engineers argued that moving recordings away from the Midlands would have a "tangible impact" on the programme.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

During Thursday’s event, Musk called the Roadster the “culmination” of a close collaboration between Tesla and SpaceX engineers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Some of the engineers, including Grewal, will sit on investment committees and boards of its companies, executives said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

To ensure that the Pennsylvania Railroad’s bridges could support the gun’s 250,000-pound weight, two Krupp engineers had traveled to America the previous July to inspect the entire route.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

To confirm that the method could be reproduced, collaborators in the laboratory of Ravi Majeti, MD, PhD, at Stanford University independently demonstrated that GMPs could be maintained for extended periods and genetically engineered.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

Existing therapies based on engineered T cells have achieved their greatest successes against certain blood cancers, but treating solid tumors has proven more difficult.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

This engineered receptor allows immune cells to identify a particular molecular marker on the surface of cancer cells, helping direct their activity toward tumors.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

These precisely sized, spherical particles are engineered to dissolve within hours, potentially combining the advantages of temporary agents with the controlled delivery of permanent microspheres.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026

Genetically engineered bees were developed in 2092, but could only provide sixty-three percent of natural function.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

They “tend to damage nearby materials and molecules,” said Wei Min, a professor of chemistry and biomedical engineering at Columbia and co-author of the study.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

Alfozan studied computer science and engineering at MIT.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026

After successfully expanding and engineering GMPs from both mice and humans, the researchers investigated their therapeutic potential in mouse experiments.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

“So today marks the day that we build the first world’s best flying car and the last best driver’s car,” Lars Moravy, Tesla’s vice president of vehicle engineering, said at the event.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

A senior reactor engineering specialist at the Research Reactor Institute at Kyoto University, Hiroaki Koide, was interviewed by The New York Times that day.

From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland

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