From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
engine
n 1: motor that converts thermal energy to mechanical work
2: something used to achieve a purpose; "an engine of change"
3: a wheeled vehicle consisting of a self-propelled engine that
is used to draw trains along railway tracks [syn:
locomotive, locomotive engine, railway locomotive]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Engine \En"gine\ ([e^]n"j[i^]n), n. [F. engin skill, machine,
engine, L. ingenium natural capacity, invention; in in + the
root of gignere to produce. See Genius, and cf.
Ingenious, Gin a snare.]
1.
Note: (Pronounced, in this sense, [e^]n*j[=e]n".) Natural
capacity; ability; skill. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]
A man hath sapiences three,
Memory, engine, and intellect also. --Chaucer.
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2. Anything used to effect a purpose; any device or
contrivance; a machine; an agent. --Shak.
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You see the ways the fisherman doth take
To catch the fish; what engines doth he make?
--Bunyan.
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Their promises, enticements, oaths, tokens, and all
these engines of lust. --Shak.
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3. Any instrument by which any effect is produced;
especially, an instrument or machine of war or torture.
"Terrible engines of death." --Sir W. Raleigh.
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4. (Mach.) A compound machine by which any physical power is
applied to produce a given physical effect.
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Engine driver, one who manages an engine; specifically, the
engineer of a locomotive.
Engine lathe. (Mach.) See under Lathe.
Engine tool, a machine tool. --J. Whitworth.
Engine turning (Fine Arts), a method of ornamentation by
means of a rose engine.
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Note: The term engine is more commonly applied to massive
machines, or to those giving power, or which produce
some difficult result. Engines, as motors, are
distinguished according to the source of power, as
steam engine, air engine, electro-magnetic engine; or
the purpose on account of which the power is applied,
as fire engine, pumping engine, locomotive engine; or
some peculiarity of construction or operation, as
single-acting or double-acting engine, high-pressure or
low-pressure engine, condensing engine, etc.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Engine \En"gine\, v. t.
1. To assault with an engine. [Obs.]
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To engine and batter our walls. --T. Adams.
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2. To equip with an engine; -- said especially of steam
vessels; as, vessels are often built by one firm and
engined by another.
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3. (Pronounced, in this sense, ?????.) To rack; to torture.
[Obs.] --Chaucer.
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From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
engine
<jargon> 1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some
function but can't be used without some kind of front end.
Today we have, especially, "print engine": the guts of a
laser printer.
2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that does a
lot of noisy crunching, such as a "database engine", or
"search engine".
The hackish senses of "engine" are actually close to its
original, pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever
device, or instrument (the word is cognate to "ingenuity").
This sense had not been completely eclipsed by the modern
connotation of power-transducing machinery in {Charles
Babbage}'s time, which explains why he named the
stored-program computer that he designed in 1844 the
"Analytical Engine".
[Jargon File]
(1996-05-31)
From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:
engine
n.
1. A piece of hardware that encapsulates some function but can't be
used without some kind of front end. Today we have, especially,
print engine: the guts of a laser printer.
2. An analogous piece of software; notionally, one that does a lot of
noisy crunching, such as a database engine.
The hacker senses of engine are actually close to its original,
pre-Industrial-Revolution sense of a skill, clever device, or
instrument (the word is cognate to `ingenuity'). This sense had not
been completely eclipsed by the modern connotation of
power-transducing machinery in Charles Babbage's time, which explains
why he named the stored-program computer that he designed in 1844 the
Analytical Engine.