▪ I. engineer, n.
(ɛndʒɪˈnɪə(r))
Forms: α. 4 engyn(e)our, 6 yngynore, ingenor. β. 6–7 en-, inginer, -are, engyner, ingener. γ. 7 en-, ingenier(e, -ir, ingeneer(e, en-, inginier, ingineer, 7– engineer.
[ME. engyneour, a. OF. engigneor (for which mod.F. has the semi-learned form ingénieur, perh. influenced by It.), corresp. to Pr. enginhador:—late L. ingeniātōrem, f. ingeniāre: see prec. In 16th c. the word assumed the form en-, inginer, as if f. engine v. + -er (a derivation which yields the same sense as the Romanic word). Early in 17th c. appear the forms in -ier(e, -eer. The precise origin of these is uncertain; they may be ad. Fr. ingénieur, or perh. ad. It. ingegniere, which is a distinct word = Sp. engeñero (Minsheu), Pg. engenheiro, OF. engignier (Cotgr. enginier):—L. type *ingeniārius, f. ingenium (see engine n.); on the other hand they may be f. engine n. + -ier, -eer, this suffix having in 16th c. already become familiar in military words of Romanic origin.]
† 1. One who contrives, designs, or invents; an author, designer (const. of); also absol. an inventor, a plotter, a layer of snares. Obs. In the later quots. perh. a fig. use of 2.
| α c 1420 Metr. Life St. Kath. (Halliw.) 14 In hys court was a false traytoure, That was a grete Yngynore. |
| β 1592 G. Harvey Pierce's Super. 8 The dreadfull enginer of phrases insteede of thunderboltes. 1602 Carew Cornwall 99 a, The Inginer of this practise..was a Portugall. 1605 B. Jonson Sejanus i. i, No, Silius, we are no good inginers. 1611 Rich Honest. Age (1844) 36 Yet you cannot deny them to be the deuil's enginers. |
| γ a 1635 R. Sibbes in Spurgeon Treas. Dav. Ps. ix. 15 That great engineer, Satan. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) I. 300 Certainly these are the most prime Engineers of Oaths, that ever the World knew. 1702 Swift Wks. (1841) II. 478 The engineers of this bill [a bill before the House of Commons] thought they had obtained a great advantage against me. |
2. † a. A constructor of military engines (obs.) [So L. ingeniator in Pipe Rolls 12th c.] b. One who designs and constructs military works for attack or defence; also fig. Also in comb., as † engineer-general.
| α c 1325 Coer de L. 1387 A tour ful strong, That queyntyly engynours made. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 3223 Þe Amyral made his engyneour; þe engyns to sette & bende. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. 189 M. William Englebert, an excellent Ingenor. |
| β 1579 Digges Stratiot. 144 Expert Enginers and menne of excellente knouledge in the art of Fortification. 1583 T. Stocker Hist. Civile Warres Low Countries I. 50 b, The buylder and Engyner whereof [of the Castle of Antwerpe] was one Pachiotto. 1600 Holland Livy xxiv. xxxiv. 532 But a more wonderful enginer for devising and framing of artillerie, ordinance, fabrickes, and instruments of warre. 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. iv. 206 (Globe), For 'tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his own petar. 1631 Weever Anc. Fun. Mon. 591 Sir William Heydon..a valiant Souldier, and an expert Enginer. |
| γ 1551 Edw. VI Jrnl. (1858) II. 369 Baron de la Garde had seene it [Portesmouth castell] having an ingenir with him, and, as it was thought, had the platte of it. 1627 Drayton Agincourt 8 The Engineer prouiding the Petar To breake the strong Percullice. 1637 Blount Voy. into Levant 31 The Gran Master and a chiefe Engeniere. 1638 Suckling 'Tis now, since, etc. (R.), My tongue was engineer; I thought to undermine the heart By wispering in the ear. 1653 Holcroft Procopius ii. 49 By the advise of Theodorus, a famous Ingineer. 1686 Lond. Gaz. No. 2023/4 Major Martin Beckman, His Majesties chief Ingenier. 1707 Farquhar Beaux' Strat. v. ii, Rise thou prostrate Ingineer, not all thy undermining Skill shall reach my Heart. 1710 Lond. Gaz. No. 4706/2 Mr. Secretary Addison and the Engineer-General informed the Committee. 1759 in Picton L'pool Munic. Rec. (1886) II. 150 Captain More one of His Majesty's Engineers. 1813 Wellington in Gurw. Disp. XI. 29, I hope that he will be able to send an engineer to undertake [the works]. 1866 Kingsley Herew. xviii. 231 She began praising his skill as an engineer. |
c. A soldier belonging to the division of the army called Engineers, composed of men trained to engineering work. Also attrib., as in engineer-officer, engineer-regiment, engineer-warrant.
| 1787 Lond. Gaz. 24–28 Apr. No. 12850 p. 197 The Corps of Engineers shall in future take the name of the Corps of Royal Engineers. 1794 Burke Sp. agst. W. Hastings Wks. XV. 63 Colonels of artillery and engineers. 1810 Wellington in Gurw. Disp. VI. 81 An army composed of divisions..artillery, engineers, etc., complete. 1889 Gen. Porter Hist. Royal Engineers 143 This day [26 May 1716] may therefore be taken as that on which the Engineer branch of the British army blossomed into a distinct Corps. |
3. One whose profession is the designing and constructing of works of public utility, such as bridges, roads, canals, railways, harbours, drainage works, gas and water works, etc. From 18th c. also civil engineer, for distinction from 2 b.
Not in Johnson 1755 or Todd 1818; the former has only the military senses, to which the latter adds ‘a maker of engines’, citing Bullokar. In the early quots. the persons referred to were probably by profession military engineers, though the works mentioned were of a ‘civil’ character. Since 2 b has ceased to be a prominent sense of engineer, the term ‘civil engineer’ has lost its original antithetic force; but it continues to be the ordinary designation of the profession to which it was first applied, distinguishing it from that of ‘mechanical engineer’ (sense 4). Other phraseological combinations, as electric (now usu. electrical), gas, mining, railway, telegraph engineer, are used to designate those who devote themselves to special departments of engineering.
| 1606 Holland Sueton. 249 An Enginer also..promised to bring into the Capitoll huge Columnes with small charges. 1680 Lond. Gaz. No. 1547/1 A new Port at Nizza..A famous French Ingenier..has been consulted about it. a 1792 Smeaton Reports (1797) I. Pref. 7 The first meeting of this new institution, the Society of civil engineers, was held on the 15th of April 1793. 1793 ― Edystone L. Introd. 8 My profession of a civil Engineer. Ibid. §101 The engineer and his deputy. 1836 Hull & Selby Railw. Act 102 A civil engineer of eminence. 1861 Sat. Rev. 14 Dec. 615 Sir Hugh Myddleton, the enterprising goldsmith, has been called the first English engineer. 1880 Haughton Phys. Geog. v. 228 Without much assistance from engineers, they will make a network of natural navigable channels. |
4. A contriver or maker of ‘engines’. The precise sense has varied from time to time in accordance with the development of meaning in engine n.; in present use the engineer in this sense (specifically mechanical engineer) is a maker of steam engines or of heavy machinery generally.
In this sense (but not in 3) the term is applied to the working artisan as well as to the employer of labour.
| β 1575 Laneham Lett. (1871) 45 Painterz, Karuerz, Players, Engyners. 1589 Puttenham Eng. Poesie i. viii. (Arb.) 34 There could be no politique Captaine, nor any witty enginer or cunning artificer. 1598 Florio, Macanopoietico, an inginer, an engine-maker. |
| γ a 1628 F. Greville Sidney (1652) 40 A skilful Engenier, an excellent Musician, or any other Artificer of extraordinary fame. 1654 Bate Myst. Nat. & Art 72 According to the fancy and invencion of the artist or Engineer. 1691 T. H[ale] Acc. New Invent. p. liv., This Engine was invented by..an excellent Engineer. 1734 Desaguliers Course Nat. Philos. I. 69 The skill of a good engineer may be advantageously applied in changing the form or altering the parts and motions of a machine. 1747 R. Campbell Lond. Tradesman 248 By engineer I..mean..the tradesman who is employed in making engines for raising of water, etc. 1831 Sir J. Sinclair Corr. II. 62 This celebrated engineer [Robert Fulton] does great credit to the talents of America. 1887 Pall Mall G. 29 Nov. 11/1 The payment of ‘tips’ ranging from ten to twenty shillings to working engineers and others. |
5. One who manages an ‘engine’ or engines. † a. One who manages engines of war; an artilleryman. Obs.
| 1600 Heywood Edw. IV, ii. Wks. 1874 I. 101 It was not you, At whom the fatall enginer did aime. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch.-Porch xli, Wit's an unruly engine, wildly striking Sometimes a friend, sometimes the engineer. a 1659 Cleveland Lond. Lady 46 Like the Death-darting Cockatrice (that slye Close Engineer) that murders through the Eye. a 1719 Addison (J.), An author, who points his satire at a great man, is like the engineer who signalized himself by this ungenerous practice. 1800 Naval Chron. III. 287 In which are included sailors, marines, and the engineers. |
b. Mod. One who has charge of a steam-engine; in England only with reference to marine engines; in U.S. often applied to the driver of a locomotive engine.
| 1832 Amer. Railroad Jrnl. I. 356/2 Engineers and attendants on the Engine. 1839 R. S. Robinson Naut. Steam Eng. 174, I am not able to speak of the engineers in Her Majesty's ships. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 75 Steam, from the first..was dreadful with its explosion..engineers and firemen..have been sacrificed in learning to tame and guide the monster. 1860 Bartlett Dict. Amer., Engineer, the engine-driver on our railroads is thus magniloquently designated. 1946 Chicago Daily News 10 July 11/2 The engineer was killed and several passengers shaken up. |
6. (With defining word, as human engineer, spiritual engineer), one who is claimed to possess specialized knowledge, esp. as regards the treating of human problems by scientific or technical means.
| 1931 J. C. Richey (title) The social engineer. 1936 Mencken Amer. Lang. (ed. 4) vi. vi. 290 The Engineering News-Record also discovered..a socio-religious e[ngineer] (an uplifter), a social-e[ngineer] (the same),..a human-e[ngineer] (another variety of psycho-analyst). |
▪ II. engineer, v.
(ɛndʒɪˈnɪə(r))
[f. prec. n.]
1. intr. To act as an engineer.
| 1681 [see engineering ppl. a.]. 1769 J. Watt Lett. Dr. Small, Our present magistracy..have employed me in engineering for them. 1870 Emerson Soc. & Solit. vii. 131 What of the grand tools with which we engineer, like kobolds and enchanters. |
2. a. trans. To employ the art of the engineer upon; to construct or manage as an engineer.
| 1843 Vignoles Life C. B. Vignoles (1889) 294 The..road magnificently engineered through the pass. 1848 Tait's Mag. XV. 428 The drainage..had been engineered to admiration. 1856 Olmstead Slave States ix. 546 The roads are admirably engineered and constructed. 1888 Pall Mall G. 19 Sept. 5/1 Mr. Baker..with Sir John Fowler, engineers the undertaking [the Forth Bridge]. |
b. fig. To arrange, contrive, plan, superintend. Also (U.S.), to guide or carry through a measure or enterprise; to manœuvre, (occas.) to ‘shepherd’.
| 1864 Daily Tel. 7 July, The lobbying or engineering a bill through the Legislature. 1865 S. S. Cox Eight Yrs. Congress 99 When he..undertakes to engineer a resolution through this House for the expulsion of a brother member, [etc.]. 1873 W. S. Mayo Never Again vii. 99 With good looks, a good voice,..and Mr. Boggs to engineer matters for her. 1882 Jay Gould in Standard 28 Dec. 6/5 The corner in grain engineered by parties in Chicago. 1883 American VII. 24 An exhibition engineered by a native prince. 1889 Sat. Rev. 16 Mar. 299/2 The jealousies and interests of workmen against employers are engineered remorselessly by professional wirepullers. 1890 Fortn. Rev. May 716 To ‘engineer’ a party..throughout a holiday expedition in a foreign country is an arduous..undertaking. 1959 Daily Tel. 28 July 1/1 The late debate had been engineered by the Opposition. |
3. fig. nonce-use. To assail laboriously (humorous).
| 1781 Cowper Let. in Wks. (1837) XV. 64 Unless we engineered him with question after question we could get nothing out of him. |
Hence engiˈneered ppl. a.; engiˈneering ppl. a., that engineers, contriving, scheming.
| 1872 Daily News 3 Sept., From the safe ledge of a cleverly engineered road. 1681 N. N. Rome's Follies 26 Since I have begun to set my engineering brains to work. |