>scientists and tinkerers of yester-year once appropriated the term Engineer from the well respected steam engine operators, engineer (n.) early 14c., "constru

>scientists and tinkerers of yester-year once appropriated the term Engineer from the well respected steam engine operators, engineer (n.) early 14c., "constructor of military engines," from Old French engigneor, from Late Latin ingeniare (see engine); general sense of "inventor, designer" is recorded from early 15c.; civil sense, in reference to public works, is recorded from c.1600. Meaning "locomotive driver" is first attested 1832, American English. A "maker of engines" in ancient Greece was a mekhanopoios. [1] It looks like the steam engine operator meaning of the word didn't show up until the 19th century. [1] http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=engineer http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=engineer