engine

English

An automobile engine

A miniature railway engine

Etymology

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

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈɛnd͡ʒɪn/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Audio (Texas):

    (file)

• (pin–pen merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɪnd͡ʒɪn/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /ˈɛnd͡ʒən/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈend͡ʒɪn/, /ˈend͡ʒən/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈend͡ʒɘn/
• Hyphenation: en‧gine
• Rhymes: -ɛndʒɪn, -endʒɪn, -endʒən, -ɪndʒɪn

Noun

engine (plural engines)

1. A large construction used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult etc. [from 14th c.]
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act IIII, scene i:

     Their warlike Engins and munition
     Exceed the forces of their martial men.

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.]
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 75:

     In France, the parliament soon became a mere engine in the hands of a few high-born and ambitious men, who had nothing in common with its interests, which were those of the people.

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.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 193:

      Therefore this craftie engine he did frame, / Againſt his praiſe to ſtirre vp enmitye [...].

12. (obsolete) Natural talent; genius. [14th–17th c.]
13. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or contrivance; an agent.
    • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene v], page 243, column 1:

      [...] their promiſes, entiſements, oathes, tokens, and all theſe engines of luſt [...].

    • 1678, John Bunyan, “The Author’s Apology for His Book”, in The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC; reprinted in The Pilgrim’s Progress (The Noel Douglas Replicas), London: Noel Douglas, […], 1928, →OCLC:

      You ſee the ways the Fiſher-man doth take / To catch the Fiſh; what Engins doth he make?

Synonyms

• motor
• locomotive

Hyponyms

Hyponyms of engine

• aero engine
• aircraft engine
• air engine
• analytical engine
• atmospheric engine
• banking engine
• beam engine
• beer engine
• boxer engine
• chaff engine
• chemical engine
• chess engine
• combustion engine
• compound engine
• corncob engine
• Cornish engine
• crate engine
• database engine
• dental engine
• diesel engine
• difference engine
• dividing engine
• donkey engine
• draught engine
• duct engine
• East-West engine
• entry ignition engine
• ether engine
• fire engine
• four-stroke engine
• game engine
• garden engine
• gas engine
• gas engine
• graphics engine
• harmonic engine
• heat engine
• Hero engine
• human flesh search engine
• information engine
• in-line engine
• internal combustion engine
• internal-combustion engine
• ion engine
• jet engine
• jet engine
• light engine
• man engine
• marine engine
• metasearch engine
• military engine
• mill engine
• monkey engine
• Otto engine
• overhead engine
• pancake engine
• petrol engine
• physics engine
• pilot engine
• piston engine
• pony engine
• pulp engine
• pulse detonation engine
• radial engine
• raptor engine
• reaction engine
• reciprocating engine
• ringing engine
• rocket engine
• rose engine
• rotary engine
• sand engine
• search engine
• shunting engine
• siege engine
• simple engine
• software engine
• solar engine
• spit engine
• square engine
• stationary engine
• steam-engine
• steam engine
• steeple engine
• Stirling engine
• storage engine
• straight engine
• switch engine
• tandem engine
• tank engine
• tender engine
• traction engine
• twin-engine
• two-stroke engine
• U engine
• Wankel engine
• water engine
• W engine
• wind engine
• winding engine

 

Derived terms

Derived terms of engine

• bank engine
• crane engine
• employ a steam engine to crack a nut
• engine bay
• engine block
• engine braking
• engine cleaner
• engine compartment
• engine displacement
• engine driver
• engineer
• engine-generator
• engine generator
• engine hour
• engine house
• engine lathe
• engine mount
• engine oil
• engine order telegraph
• engine-rich
• engine room
• engine shed
• engine trouble
• engine-turned
• engine turning
• in-engine
• inline engine
• Lenoir engine
• one engine in steam
• re-engine, reengine (verbs)
• retro-engine
• search-engine-friendly
• search engine optimization
• siege-engine
• stellar engine
• V engine

 

Related terms

• engineer
• genius
• ingeniosity
• ingenious

 

Descendants

• → Afrikaans: enjin
• → Bengali: ইঞ্জিন (injin)
• → Hindi: इंजन (iñjan)
• → Japanese: エンジン
  • → Hakka: 引擎 (ên-chín)
  • → Min Nan: 引擎 (ia̋n-jín)
• → Malay: enjin
  • Indonesian: enjin
• → Scottish Gaelic: einnsean
• → Swahili: injini
• → Shanghainese: 引擎 (in¹-jin⁶)
  • → Chinese: 引擎 (yǐnqíng)

Translations

mechanical device

• Afrikaans: enjin
• Albanian: motor (sq) m
• Arabic: مُحَرِّك m (muḥarrik), مُوتُور m (mūtūr)
• Armenian: շարժիչ (hy) (šaržičʻ)
• Asturian: motor (ast) m
• Azerbaijani: mühərrik (az), motor
• Bashkir: двигатель (dvigatelʹ), мотор (motor)
• Basque: motor (eu) sg
• Belarusian: рухаві́к m (ruxavík), мато́р m (matór)
• Bengali: ইঞ্জিন (bn) (injin), মোটর (bn) (mōṭor)
• Bulgarian: мото́р (bg) m (motór), дви́гател (bg) m (dvígatel)
• Burmese: အင်ဂျင် (my) (anggyang), စက်ခေါင်း (my) (cakhkaung:)
• Catalan: motor (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 引擎 (zh) (yǐnqíng), 發動機／发动机 (zh) (fādòngjī), 馬達／马达 (zh) (mǎdá), 摩托 (zh) (mótuō)

• Coptic: ⲙⲏⲭⲁⲛⲏ f (mēkhanē)
• Cornish: jynn m
• Czech: motor (cs) m
• Danish: motor (da) c
• Dutch: motor (nl) m, aandrijving (nl) f
• Esperanto: motoro
• Estonian: mootor
• Finnish: moottori (fi)
• French: moteur (fr) m
• Galician: motor (gl) m
• Georgian: ძრავა (ʒrava), მატორი (maṭori)
• German: Motor (de) m, Triebwerk (de) n, Antrieb (de) m
• Greek: μηχανή (el) f (michaní), κινητήρας (el) f (kinitíras)

  Ancient Greek: μηχανή f (mēkhanḗ)

• Hebrew: מָנוֹעַ (he) m (manóa)
• Hindi: इंजन (hi) (iñjan), मोटर (hi) (moṭar)
• Hungarian: motor (hu)
• Icelandic: mótor (is)
• Ido: mashino (io)
• Indonesian: mesin (id), motor (id), enjin (id)
• Interlingua: motor
• Irish: inneall m, mótair
• Italian: motore (it) m
• Japanese: エンジン (ja) (enjin), 機関 (ja) (きかん, kikan), 機械 (ja) (きかい, kikai), モーター (ja) (mōtā), 発動機 (ja) (はつどうき, hatsudōki), 原動機 (ja) (げんどうき, kendōki)
• Kazakh: қозғалтқыш (qozğaltqyş), мотор (kk) (motor)
• Khmer: ម៉ូតូ (moutou), ម៉ាស៊ីន (km) (maasɨn)
• Korean: 기관(機關) (ko) (gigwan), 모터 (ko) (moteo), 엔진 (ko) (enjin)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: بزوێنەر (bizwêner), مۆتۆر (motor)

  Northern Kurdish: makîne (ku)

• Kyrgyz: кыймылдаткыч (kıymıldatkıc), мотор (ky) (motor)
• Lao: ເຄື່ອງຈັກ (lo) (khư̄ang chak)
• Latvian: dzinējs m, motors m
• Lithuanian: variklis m, motoras m
• Macedonian: мо́тор m (mótor)
• Malay: enjin (ms)
• Maltese: mutur m
• Maori: initia, mīhini (mi), pūkaha
• Mongolian:

  Cyrillic: хөдөлгүүр (mn) (xödölgüür), мотор (mn) (motor)

• Navajo: atsiitsʼiin
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: motor (no) m

  Nynorsk: motor m

• Pashto: انجن (ps) m (enǰǝ́n), ماشين m (māšín)
• Persian:

  Dari: موتَر (mōtar)

  Iranian Persian: موتور (fa) (motor), مُحَرِّک (fa) (moharrek)

• Plautdietsch: Inzhen m
• Polish: silnik (pl) m, motor (pl) m
• Portuguese: motor (pt) m
• Romanian: motor (ro) n
• Russian: дви́гатель (ru) m (dvígatelʹ), мото́р (ru) m (motór)
• Scots: ingine
• Scottish Gaelic: einnsean m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: мо̀то̄р m

  Roman: mòtōr (sh) m

• Sinhalese: එන්ජිම (si) (enjima)
• Slovak: motor m
• Slovene: motor (sl) m
• Spanish: motor (es) m
• Swahili: injini (sw)
• Swedish: motor (sv) c
• Tagalog: likhisog
• Tajik: муҳаррик (muharrik), мотор (motor)
• Tatar: йөрткеч (tt) (yörtkeç), мотор (motor)
• Thai: เครื่องยนต์ (th) (krʉ̂ʉang-yon), มอเตอร์ (th) (mɔɔ-dtə̂ə)
• Turkish: motor (tr)
• Turkmen: dwigatel, motor
• Ukrainian: двигу́н (uk) m (dvyhún), мото́р (uk) m (motór)
• Urdu: اِنْجَن m (injan), موٹَر f (moṭar)
• Uyghur: ماتور (mator)
• Uzbek: motor (uz), dvigatel (uz)
• Vietnamese: động cơ (vi) (動機)
• Welsh: peiriant (cy) m, ermig m or f
• Yiddish: מאָטאָר m (motor)

locomotive — see locomotive

influential group

• Bulgarian: дви́гател (bg) m (dvígatel)
• French: moteur (fr) m
• German: Motor (de) m
• Italian: motore (it) m
• Macedonian: дви́гател m (dvígatel)
• Romanian: motor (ro) n
• Russian: дви́гатель (ru) m (dvígatelʹ)
• Swedish: motor (sv) n

software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task

• Esperanto: motoro
• Finnish: moottori (fi)
• Japanese: エンジン (ja) (enjin)
• Macedonian: дви́гател m (dvígatel)
• Polish: aparat (pl) m, mechanizm (pl) m, silnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: motor (pt) m
• Russian: движо́к (ru) m (dvižók)
• Spanish: motor (es)

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

• Indonesian: ^{(please verify)} mesin (id)

Verb

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

• “engine”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “engine”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• ginnee

Chinese

Alternative forms

• N展 (en¹ zin²), N剪
• engin

Etymology 1

From clipping of English engineering.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): en¹ zin²

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: en¹ zin²
    • Cantonese Pinyin: en¹ dzin²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛːn⁵⁵ t͡siːn³⁵/

Noun

engine

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

Etymology 2

From English engine.

Pronunciation

• Cantonese (Jyutping): en¹ zin⁴ / en¹ zin²

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• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: en¹ zin⁴ / en¹ zin²
    • Cantonese Pinyin: en¹ dzin⁴ / en¹ dzin²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɛːn⁵⁵ t͡siːn²¹/, /ɛːn⁵⁵ t͡siːn³⁵/

Noun

engine

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

Synonyms

• (engine):

• 偈 (Cantonese)
• 動力機／动力机 (dònglìjī)
• 引擎 (yǐnqíng)
• 摩打 (mo¹ daa²) (Cantonese)
• 摩托
• 發動機／发动机 (fādòngjī)
• 馬達／马达 (mǎdá)