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In my usage, Engine is generally something that consumes gasoline (sometimes Diesel) and generate rotational power and lots of exhaust gas and heat. I almost a

In my usage, Engine is generally something that consumes gasoline (sometimes Diesel) and generate rotational power and lots of exhaust gas and heat. I almost always use the term motor for an electromechanical machine that turns electrical into mechanical power. Like all words, there's ambiguity to it.

garyfirestorm 2y ago
Same here. Maybe it’s how I grew up. Gas engine Electric motor Never understood why people used the word motor to describe the engine.
- 0x0203 2y ago
  Similar for me, except that I always saw engine as specific type of motor. Hence "motorsports" was perfectly normal for gas burning vehicular racing.
- unwind 2y ago
  So, uh, Harley Davidson is a well-known brand of noisy engine cycles to you, then?
jandrese 2y ago
This is how I use it as well. It is a convenient way to encode a hint about the power source into the base word. A slight refinement of the language and a good example of how languages evolve over time to better suit the era they are in.