Wiktionary

engine

English

edit
 
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Engines
 
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”), related to 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 used for moving cars along a track. [from 19th c.]
    2. (usually) A locomotive.
  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
edit

Descendants

edit

Translations

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

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):

Portuguese

edit
 
Portuguese Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia pt

Etymology

edit

Unadapted borrowing from English engine.

Pronunciation

edit
 
  • (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈẽ.d͡ʒĩ/, (hypercorrection) /ẽˈd͡ʒaj̃ni/ [ẽˈd͡ʒaɪ̯̃ni]
    • (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈẽ.d͡ʒĩ/, (hypercorrection) /ẽˈd͡ʒaj̃ne/ [ẽˈd͡ʒaɪ̯̃ne]

Noun

edit

engine f (plural engines)

  1. (computing) engine (software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task)
    Synonym: motor
    • 2008 December, Felipe Micaroni Lalli, Felippe Franco Bueno, Guilherme Keese Zacharias, “Chrome” (chapter 4.2.8), in Evolução da programação web, Campinas: FAC, page 33:
      O navegador Chrome beta para Windows foi lançado setembro de 2008 e é um projeto de código-aberto do Google. A maior parte do seu código-fonte tem origem no código do Firefox e sua engine JavaScript foi baseada na engine do Safari e se chama V8. Essa engine atualmente supera a velocidade do TraceMonkey do Firefox […] .
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2011 March 22, Nilton Kleina, “O que é engine ou motor gráfico?”, in TecMundo‎[2], São Paulo: NZN, archived from the original on 2012-06-27:
      Não é fácil prever quais os futuros avanços em motores gráficos, mas a próxima grande leva de engines deve surgir apenas na geração que vem a seguir.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2015 December, Rafael Nevez, “Yoshi’s Safari”, Prévia, in Nintendo Blast, number 72, Welcome to the jungle!, page 14:
      Usando uma engine gráfica semelhante à de Super Mario Kart (SNES), o game apresentou visuais belos para a época.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    • 2019 March 12, Pedro Fernandes, “Vulnerabilidade no Github e Slack permitia instalação de malware”, in TugaTech‎[3], Portugal, archived from the original on 2024-12-01:
      De acordo com o portal HackRead, o malware aproveitava uma falha na engine para redirecionar os utilizadores para falsas páginas das plataformas, com objetivo de obter os dados de acesso a contas das mesmas.
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=engine&oldid=84733375"