Wiktionary

engine

English edit

 
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An automobile engine
 
A miniature railway engine

Etymology edit

From Middle English engyn, from Anglo-Norman engine, Old French engin (“skill, cleverness, war machine”), from Latin ingenium (“innate or natural quality, nature, genius, a genius, an invention, (in Late Latin) a war-engine, battering-ram”), from ingenitum, past participle of ingignō (“to instil by birth, implant, produce in”). Compare gin, ingenious, engineer.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

engine (plural engines)

  1. A large construction used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult etc. [from 14th c.]
  2. (now archaic) A tool; a utensil or implement. [from 14th c.]
    • 1714, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees:
      Flattery must be the most powerful Argument that cou'd be used to Human Creatures. Making use of this bewitching Engine, they extoll'd the Excellency of our Nature above other Animals [...].
    • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 15, lines 248–251:
      What if the Foot, ordain'd the duſt to tread, / Or Hand, to toil, aſpir'd to be the Head? / What if the Head, the Eye, or Ear repin'd / To ſerve mere Engines to the ruling Mind?
  3. A complex mechanical device which converts energy into useful motion or physical effects. [from 16th c.]
  4. A person or group of people which influence a larger group; a driving force. [from 16th c.]
  6. The part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion, now especially one powered by internal combustion. [from 19th c.]
  7. A self-powered vehicle, especially a locomotive, used for pulling cars along a track. [from 19th c.]
  9. (computing) A software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task (usually with qualifying word). [from 20th c.]
    a graphics engine
    a physics engine
  10. (obsolete) Ingenuity; cunning, trickery, guile. [13th–17th c.]
  11. (obsolete) The result of cunning; something ingenious, a contrivance; (in negative senses) a plot, a scheme. [13th–18th c.]
  12. (obsolete) Natural talent; genius. [14th–17th c.]
  13. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent.

Synonyms edit

Hyponyms edit

Hyponyms of engine

Derived terms edit

Derived terms of engine

Related terms edit

Descendants edit

Translations edit

locomotive — see locomotive
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb edit

engine (third-person singular simple present engines, present participle engining, simple past and past participle engined)

  1. (transitive, dated) To equip with an engine; said especially of steam vessels.
    Vessels are often built by one firm and engined by another.
  2. (transitive, obsolete) To assault with an engine.
    • 1629, Thomas Adams, Plain-Dealing:
      to engine and batter our walls
  3. (transitive, obsolete) To contrive; to put into action.

Further reading edit

Anagrams edit

Chinese edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology 1 edit

From clipping of English engineering.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

engine

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) engineering industry; engineer
  2. (Hong Kong Cantonese, university slang) engineering

Etymology 2 edit

From English engine.

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

engine

  1. (Hong Kong Cantonese) engine (mechanical device; part of a vehicle; computing)
Synonyms edit
  • (engine):
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