engineer

Syllables: en·gin·eer/ˌɛn(d)ʒɪˈnɪə//ˌɛnd͡ʒɪˈnɪ(ə)ɹ/

engineer noun: a soldier engaged in designing or constructing military works for attack or defence, or other engineering works.

Noun

engineer (plural engineers)

(also, figuratively) A soldier engaged in designing or constructing military works for attack or defence, or other engineering works.
- For tis the ſport to haue the enginer / Hoiſt with his ovvne petar, an't ſhall goe hard / But I vvill delue one yard belovve their mines, / And blovve them at the Moone: […]c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604...
- Novv he began another Trade, and became an Ingenor, hauing got eight Fire-brands of hell more to him, onely of purpoſe to ſet our houſe a fire.1625, Edmund Scot, “A Discourse of Iaua, and of the First English Factorie there, with Diuers Indian, English, and Dutch Occurrents, […]”, in [Samuel] Purchas, Purchas His Pilgrimes. […], 1st part...
(also, figuratively, obsolete) A soldier in charge of operating a weapon; an artilleryman, a gunner.
- This is hard welcome, but it was not you, / At whom the fatal enginer did ayme, / My breaſt the levell was, though you the marke, / In which conſpiracie anſwere me Duke, / Is not thy ſoule as guiltie as the Earles?1599, [Thomas Heywood], “The Second Part […]”, in The First and Second Partes of King Edvvard the Fourth. […], London: […] I. W. for Iohn Oxenbridge, […], →OCLC; reprinted Philadelphia, Pa.; New...
- Wit's an unruly engine, wildly ſtriking / Sometimes a friend, ſometimes the engineer.[1633], George Herbert, “The Church-porch”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to...
(broadly) A person professionally engaged in the technical design and construction of large-scale private and public works such as bridges, buildings, harbours, railways, roads, etc.; a civil engineer.
- [T]o an Enginer alſo, vvho promiſed to bring into the Capitoll huge Columnes vvith ſmall charges, hee gave for his deviſe no meane revvard; and releaſed him his labour in performing that vvorke, ſaying vvithall by vvay of preface, That he ſhould ſuffer him to feed the poore commons.1606, Caius [i.e., Gaius] Suetonius Tranquillus, “The Historie of Flavius Vespatianus Augustus”, in Philêmon Holland, transl., The Historie of Twelve Cæsars Emperours of Rome. […], London: […]...
Synonyms:

hostler
(broadly) Originally, a person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; now (more generally), a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so.
- Macanopoietico, an inginer, an engine-maker.1598, John Florio, “Macanopoietico”, in A Worlde of Words, or Most Copious, and Exact Dictionarie in Italian and English, […], London: […] Arnold Hatfield for Edw[ard] Blount, →OCLC, page 209, column...
- [N]ear St. Laurence-Lane his lordship receives an entertainment from an unparalleled masterpiece of art, called the Crystal Sanctuary, styled by the name of the Temple of Integrity, […] and more to express the invention and the art of the engineer, as also for motion, variety, and the content of...1623 November 8 (Gregorian calendar; first performance), Thomas Middleton, “The Triumphs of Integrity”, in A[rthur] H[enry] Bullen, editor, The Works of Thomas Middleton […] (The English Dramatists)...
Synonyms:

hostler
(broadly, historical) A person who operates a steam engine; specifically (nautical), a person employed to operate the steam engine in the engine room of a ship.
- The machinery [the steam engine] has proved, like the balloon, unmanageable, and flies away with the aeronaut. Steam, from the first, hissed and screamed to warn him; it was dreadful with its explosion, and crushed the engineer. The machinist has wrought and watched, engineers and firemen without...1856, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Wealth”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, pages 170–171
- The engineer, the deck-hand on the great lakes, or on the Mississippi or St. Lawrence or Sacramento, or Hudson or Paumanok sound, claims him.1892, Walt Whitman, “Song of the Answerer”, in Leaves of Grass […], Philadelphia, Pa.: David McKay, publisher, […], →OCLC, part 1, page 136
Synonyms:

hostler, engineman
(US, broadly) A person who drives or operates a fire engine (firefighting apparatus).

Synonyms:

hostler
(US, broadly) A person who drives or operates a locomotive; a train driver.

Synonyms:

hostler
(broadly) Preceded by a qualifying word: a person who uses abilities or knowledge to manipulate events or people.
- a political engineer
- Now that I may not ſeem to paſs my Cenſure raſhly, I deſire that my more intelligent Readers will pleaſe to reduce the following things into Meaning, if they can, and favour us with the Interpretation; being ſome particular Account of the Life of this famous, religious Ingineer, for I know not what...1727, [Daniel Defoe], “Of the Present Pretences of the Magicians: How They Defend Themselves; and Some Examples of Their Practice”, in A System of Magick; or, A History of the Black Art. […], London...
Synonyms:

hostler
(broadly, derogatory, often) A person who formulates plots or schemes; a plotter, a schemer.
- But the trimme ſilke-worme I looked for (as it were in a proper contempt of common fineneſſe) prooveth but a ſilly glow-woorme, and the dreadfull enginer of phraſes, in steede of thunderboltes, ſhooteth nothing but dogboltes and catboltes, and the homelieſt boltes of rude folly: […]1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey], Pierces Supererogation: Or A New Prayse of the Old Asse. A Preparative to Certaine Larger Discourses, Intituled Nashes S. Fame, London: […] Iohn Wolfe...
- No Silius, vve are no good Inginers; / VVe vvant the fine Artes, & their thriuing vſe / Should make vs grac'd, or fauour'd of the Times: / […] / VVe burne vvith no black ſecrets, vvhich can make / Vs deare to the pale Authors; or liue fear'd / Of their ſtill vvaking iealoſies, to raiſe / Our ſelues...1603 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, Seianus His Fall, London: […] G[eorge] Elld, for Thomas Thorpe, published 1605, →OCLC, Act I, signature B, recto
Synonyms:

hostler
An honorific title given to engineers before their name.

Verb

engineer (third-person singular simple present engineers, present participle engineering, simple past and past participle engineered)

(transitive) To employ one's abilities and knowledge as an engineer to design, construct, and/or maintain (something, such as a machine or a structure), usually for industrial or public use.
(specifically, transitive) To use genetic engineering to alter or construct (a DNA sequence), or to alter (an organism).
- In an interesting animal study, scientists engineered mice with a specific gene defect that caused memory and learning problems.2018, Timothy R. Jennings, The Aging Brain, →ISBN, page 41
(transitive) To plan or achieve (a goal) by contrivance or guile; to finagle, to wangle.
(intransitive) To formulate plots or schemes; to plot, to scheme.

Synonyms:

machinate
(intransitive, rare) To work as an engineer.
- What of the grand tools with which we engineer, like kobolds and enchanters,—tunnelling Alps, canalling the American Isthmus, piercing the Arabian desert?1870, Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Works and Days”, in Society and Solitude. Twelve Chapters, Boston, Mass.: Fields, Osgood, & Co., →OCLC, page 144

engineer meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

engineer in Hindi

person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; (more generally) a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so: अभियंता abhiyantā, अभियन्ता abhiyantā, इंजीनियर iñjīniyar

engineer in Tamil

person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; (more generally) a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so: பொறியாளர் poṟiyāḷar

engineer in Marathi

person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; (more generally) a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so: इंजिनियर iñjiniyar

engineer in Urdu

person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; (more generally) a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so: اِن٘جِینِئَر iñjīniar, مُہَنْدِس muhandis

More languagesFewer languages

engineer in Bengali: প্রকৌশলী prokōusli
engineer in Telugu: ఇంజనీర్ iñjanīr, యంత్రకారుడు yantrakāruḍu
engineer in Malayalam: എഞ്ജിനീയർ
engineer in Kannada: ಬಿಣಿಗೆಯರಿಗ, ಅಭಿಯಂತರ, ಎಂಜಿನಿಯರ್, ಯಂತ್ರಶಿಲ್ಪಿ
engineer in Gujarati: એન્જિનિયર enjiniyar
engineer in Sanskrit: अभियन्तृ abhiyantṛ
engineer in Sinhala: මැවිසුරු mæwisuru
engineer in Assamese: অভিযন্তা obhizonta
engineer in Pashto: انجينر enjinár, مهندس mohandés
engineer in Tagalog: inhinyero, makinista
engineer in Arabic: مُهَنْدِس muhandis, مُهَنْدِسَة muhandisa
engineer in Malay: insinyur, jurutera
engineer in Indonesian: insinyur
engineer in Thai: วิศวกร wít-sà-wá-gɔɔn
engineer in Vietnamese: kĩ sư or kỹ sư, người phụ trách máy
engineer in Myanmar: အင်ဂျင်နီယာ anggyangniya

Examples of engineer in a sentence

An Author who points his ſatyr at a great man, is to be looked upon in the ſame view with the engineer who ſignalized himſelf by this ungenerous practice.1716 March 5 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 19. Thursday, February 24. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right...
Who recruits him recruits horse and foot … he fetches parks of artillery the best that engineer ever knew.1855 July 4, Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass, Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.: [James and Andrew Rome], →OCLC, page v, column 1:
Somehow, everybody who isn’t in sales, marketing, or design became an engineer.2015 November 5, Ian Bogost, “Programmers: Stop Calling Yourselves Engineers”, in James Bennet, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The...
Steam, from the first, hissed and screamed to warn him; it was dreadful with its explosion, and crushed the engineer.1856, R[alph] W[aldo] Emerson, “Wealth”, in English Traits, Boston, Mass.: Phillips, Sampson, and Company, →OCLC, pages 170–171:

All 40 example sentences with engineer

Synonyms of engineer

Forms of engineer

Noun
plural	engineers
Verb
third-person singular present	engineers
present participle	engineering
past participle	engineered
past	engineered

Past tense of engineer: engineered

Plural of engineer: engineers

Origin of engineer

The noun is derived from: * Middle English enginour (“one who designs, constructs, or operates military works for attack or defence, etc.; machine designer”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman enginour, engigneour [and other forms], and Middle French and Old French engigneor, engigneour, engignier (“one who designs, constructs, or operates military works for attack or defence; architect; carpenter; craftsman; designer; planner; one who deceives or schemes”) (modern French ingénieur), from engin (“contraption, device; machine; invention; creativity, ingenuity; intelligence; deception, ruse, trickery”) + -eor, -or (suffix forming agent nouns); engin is derived from Latin ingenium (“innate or natural quality, nature; intelligence, natural capacity; ability, skill, talent; (Medieval Latin) engine; machine”), from in- (prefix meaning ‘in, inside, within’) + gignere (the present active infinitive of gignō (“to bear, beget, give birth to; to cause, produce, yield”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- (“to beget, give birth to; to produce”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns); and * from engine + -er (occupational suffix); and * from engine + -eer (suffix forming nouns...

Phrases with engineer

41 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with engineer

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about engineer

What does engineer mean?: Engineer means a soldier engaged in designing or constructing military works for attack or defence, or other engineering works.
What is engineer in Hindi?: Engineer in Hindi is अभियंता (abhiyantā), अभियन्ता (abhiyantā), इंजीनियर (iñjīniyar). See Engineer meaning in Hindi.
How do you use engineer in a sentence?: An Author who points his ſatyr at a great man, is to be looked upon in the ſame view with the engineer who ſignalized himſelf by this ungenerous practice.
What part of speech is engineer?: Engineer can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce engineer?: Engineer is pronounced /ˌɛn(d)ʒɪˈnɪə/ (UK).
What is the plural of engineer?: The plural of engineer is engineers.

Words near engineer in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: engineer (page history and authors); engineer (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); engineer (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); એન્જિનિયર (Gujarati) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-engineer.ogg, En-us-engineer.ogg.

Cite this entry: “engineer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/engineer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.