Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
engine . In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
engine , but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
engine in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
engine you have here. The definition of the word
engine will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
engine , as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Commons:Category
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
Noun
engine (plural engines )
A large construction used in warfare , such as a battering ram , catapult etc.
c. 1587–1588 , [Christopher Marlowe ], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: 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.
( now archaic ) A tool ; a utensil or implement .
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 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?
A complex mechanical device which converts energy into useful motion or physical effects.
A person or group of people which influence a larger group; a driving force.
1834 , L E L , 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.
The part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion, now especially one powered by internal combustion .
A self-powered vehicle, especially a locomotive , used for pulling cars along a track.
( computing ) A software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task (usually with qualifying word).
a graphics engine
a physics engine
( obsolete ) Ingenuity ; cunning , trickery , guile .
( obsolete ) The result of cunning; something ingenious , a contrivance ; (in negative senses) a plot , a scheme .
( obsolete ) Natural talent ; genius .
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 Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , , page 243 , column 1:[...] their promiſes, entiſements, oathes, tokens, and all theſe engines of luſt [...].
Synonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Descendants
→ Afrikaans: enjin
→ Bengali: ইঞ্জিন ( injin )
→ Hindi: इंजन ( iñjan )
→ Iban: injin
→ Japanese: エンジン
→ Hakka: 引擎 ( ên-chín )
→ Min Nan: 引擎 ( ia̋n-jín )
→ Korean: 엔진 ( enjin )
→ Malay: enjin
→ Scottish Gaelic: einnsean
→ Swahili: injini
→ Shanghainese: 引擎 ( in¹-jin⁶ )
Translations
mechanical device
Afrikaans: enjin
Albanian: motor (sq) m
Arabic: مُحَرِّك (ar) 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 (mk) 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 ( 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 )
software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task
Translations to be checked
Verb
engine (third-person singular simple present engines , present participle engining , simple past and past participle engined )
( transitive , dated ) To equip with an engine; said especially of steam vessels .
Vessels are often built by one firm and engined by another.
( transitive , obsolete ) To assault with an engine.
1629 , Thomas Adams , Plain-Dealing :to engine and batter our walls
( 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
Chinese
Etymology 1
From clipping of English engineering .
Pronunciation
Noun
engine
( Hong Kong Cantonese ) engineering industry ; engineer
( Hong Kong Cantonese , university slang ) engineering
Etymology 2
From English engine .
Pronunciation
Noun
engine
( Hong Kong Cantonese ) engine ( mechanical device; part of a vehicle; computing )
Synonyms