The answer is in the word itself. An er word ending means “the practice of.” For example, a farmer farms, a baker bakes, a singer sings, a driver drives, and so forth. But what does an engineer do? Do they engine? Yes they do! The word engine comes from the Latin ingenerare, meaning “to create.“
About 2000 years ago, the Latin word ingenium was used to describe the design of a new machine. Soon after, the word ingen was being used to describe all machines. In English, “ingen” was spelled “engine” and people who designed creative things were known as “engine-ers”. In French, German, and Spanish today, the word for engineer is ingenieur.
So What Is an Engineer?
An engineer is a creative and ingenious person.
What Does an Engineer Do?
Engineers create ingenious solutions to society’s problems.
Thanks to Robert T Balmer for an enlightenment
