engineer

[en-juh-neer] /ˌɛn dʒəˈnɪər/
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.
a skillful manager:
a political engineer.
verb (used with object)
6.
to plan, construct, or manage as an engineer:
He's engineered several big industrial projects.
7.
to design or create using the techniques or methods of engineering:
The motor has been engineered to run noiselessly.
8.
to arrange, manage, or carry through by skillful or artful contrivance:
He certainly engineered the election campaign beautifully.
Origin
1350-1400; engine + -eer; replacing Middle English engin(e)our < Anglo-French engineor Old French engigneor < Medieval Latin ingeniātor, equivalent to ingeniā(re) to design, devise (verbal derivative of ingenium; see engine) + Latin -tor -tor
Related forms
subengineer, noun
unengineered, adjective
well-engineered, adjective
Examples from the web for engineer
  • So bikers, play informant for your architect, designer or engineer friends and all you biking architects out there get busy.
  • Its aim is to engineer organisms that perform functions of use to humans.
  • There it's an honour to be an engineer instead of an investment banker.
  • Or your plumber, pastor, and that quiet chemical engineer down the street.
  • The engineer can virtually remove a part from the model, turn it around, and change its diameter or location.
  • Annette really defies the stereotype of a geeky engineer.
  • He became certified in residential construction while working as a structural engineer in a homebuilding firm.
  • The candidate should have an educational background that would permit licensure as a professional engineer.
  • However, it applies mostly to products that are easy to reverse engineer.
  • Perhaps they could also use this to find a target unique to all strains of staph and then engineer a phage to exploit it.
British Dictionary definitions for engineer

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.
(US & Canadian) 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 (transitive)
7.
to originate, cause, or plan in a clever or devious manner: he engineered the minister's downfall
8.
to design, plan, or construct as a professional engineer
Word Origin
C14: enginer, from Old French engigneor, from engignier to contrive, ultimately from Latin ingenium skill, talent; see engine
Word Origin and History for engineer
n.

early 14c., "constructor of military engines," from Old French engigneor, from Late Latin ingeniare (see engine); general sense of "inventor, designer" is recorded from early 15c.; civil sense, in reference to public works, is recorded from c.1600. Meaning "locomotive driver" is first attested 1832, American English. A "maker of engines" in ancient Greece was a mekhanopoios.

v.

1843 (but cf. engineering), from engineer (n.). Figurative sense of "arrange, contrive" is attested from 1864, originally in a political context. Related: Engineered.