engine
/ˈɛnd͡ʒɪn/
Word Rarity
Uncommon
Frequency: 4.84 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A large construction used in warfare, such as a battering ram, catapult etc.
noun
The part of a car or other vehicle which provides the force for motion, now especially one powered by internal combustion.
noun
A software or hardware system responsible for a specific technical task (usually with qualifying word).
Example Sentences
- "Their warlike Engins and munition Exceed the forces of their martial men."
- "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 [...]."
- "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?"
- "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."
- "a graphics engine"
- "a physics 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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈɛnd͡ʒɪn/
- British English: /ˈɛnd͡ʒɪn/