engineer
en·gin·eer/ˌɛnd͡ʒɪˈnɪ(ə)ɹ/noun, verb
engineer is spelled E-N-G-I-N-E-E-R, 3 syllables: en·gin·eer. The wrong spelling people search most is enginer: about 270 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 27 of all searches for the word. Engineer is a noun meaning “A soldier engaged in designing or constructing military works for attack or defence, or other engineering…”. The plural of engineer is engineers.
How many letters and syllables are in engineer?
| Letters | 8: E-N-G-I-N-E-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: en·gin·eer |
| In writing | 32 times per million words; the 2,992nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 4; the most searched, enginer, about 270 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell engineer?
Engineer is spelled E-N-G-I-N-E-E-R. 4 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 18 of the searches for engineer in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is engineer?
Engineer appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,992nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce engineer?
- UK /ˌɛn(d)ʒɪˈnɪə/
- US /ˌɛnd͡ʒɪˈnɪ(ə)ɹ/
- /ˈɪn.dʒɪ.ˈniː.jər/
Engineer has 3 syllables, split en·gin·eer in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-uk-engineer.ogg, En-us-engineer.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with engineer?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as engineer from its last stressed vowel (/ɪɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of engineer
- engineers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- engineering participle, present
- engineered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does engineer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A soldier engaged in designing or constructing military works for attack or defence, or other engineering works.
- 2
obsoleteA soldier in charge of operating a weapon; an artilleryman, a gunner.
- 3
A person professionally engaged in the technical design and construction of large-scale private and public works such as bridges, buildings, harbours, railways, roads, etc.; a civil engineer.
- 4
Originally, a person engaged in designing, constructing, or maintaining engines or machinery; now (more generally), a person qualified or professionally engaged in any branch of engineering, or studying to do so.
- 5
A person who operates a steam engine; specifically (nautical), a person employed to operate the steam engine in the engine room of a ship.
- 6
USA person who drives or operates a fire engine (firefighting apparatus).
- 7
USA person who drives or operates a locomotive; a train driver.
- 8
Preceded by a qualifying word: a person who uses abilities or knowledge to manipulate events or people.
a political engineer
verb
- 1
To employ one's abilities and knowledge as an engineer to design, construct, and/or maintain (something, such as a machine or a structure), usually for industrial or public use.
- 2
To use genetic engineering to alter or construct (a DNA sequence), or to alter (an organism).
- 3
To plan or achieve (a goal) by contrivance or guile; to finagle, to wangle.
- 4
To formulate plots or schemes; to plot, to scheme.
- 5
rareTo work as an engineer.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate engineer?
Wiktionary records 5 abbreviations of engineer: Eng'r, Engr, eng., engr, engr..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Engineer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | ingénieur, ingénieure , conducteur de train, machiniste |
| German | Ingenieur, Ingenieurin , Lokomotivführer, Lokomotivführerin, Maschinist, Maschinistin |
| Portuguese | engenheiro, engenheira , maquinista , maquinar |
| Spanish | ingeniero, ingeniera , maquinista , manipular genéticamente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.