engineering

Etymology

It is formed from English engineer + -ing.^[2][3][4] The OED takes the noun as coming partly from the noun and, in later use, partly from the verb,^[2] while the Shorter Oxford gives only the verb^[5] and Merriam-Webster Unabridged calls it a gerund of the verb.^[6] The base noun is from Anglo-Norman engineor, also enginour, from Old French engigneor and Medieval Latin ingeniātor (“constructor of military engines”),^[2][4] the Latin noun being connected with ingenium, the source of engine.^[4] The OED compares the earlier enginery and engining,^[2] and Etymonline names the earlier engineership (1640s) and engineery, tried in 1793.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest form is an adjective, "contriving, scheming", recorded from 1631, in H. Peters's Digitus Dei, to 1863.^[2] The noun, a branch of science and technology concerned with engines, machines and structures, follows in 1697, in a letter of I. Newton's.^[2][6] Etymonline's date for the noun, "work done by an engineer", is 1720,^[3] and Dictionary.com's is 1710–20.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Its base could already mean both a builder of military works and a planner or schemer in Anglo-Norman.^[2] The figurative noun, working artfully to bring something about, is recorded from 1716,^[2] and the Shorter Oxford dates it only to the late 18th century.^[5] Etymonline finds engineering as a field of study by 1792.^[3] The named branches came to include civil, mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering.^[7][5] In the early 20th century the word widened to any field concerned with deliberately altering something, as in genetic engineering and social engineering.^[5]

Timeline

• 1631 – adjective, contriving, scheming (obsolete after 1863).^[2]
• 1697 – noun, the branch of science and technology dealing with engines, machines and structures.^[2][6] Etymonline dates the work of an engineer to 1720.^[3]
• 1716 – artful contrivance, machination.^[2]
• 1792 – a field of study.^[3]
• early 20th century – a field concerned with deliberate alteration, as in genetic engineering.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The science and profession of applying scientific principles to the design, construction and maintenance of engines, machines, structures and products: She studied engineering at a technical college.^[7][6][2]
2. The work or function of an engineer.^[6][5]
3. A field concerned with the deliberate alteration of something, as in genetic engineering.^[5]
4. Artful contrivance to bring something about; machination.^[2][5]

Word family

• nonengineering

Related words

• engineer
• engine
• enginery

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins