pound

en-verb

pound (third-person singular simple present pounds, present participle pounding, simple past and past participle pounded)

pounds (present singular third-person)
pounding (participle present)
pounded (participle past)
pounded (past)
poun (alternative)
pown (alternative)

From an alteration of earlier poun, pown, from Middle English pounen, from Old English pūnian (“to pound, beat, bray, bruise, crush”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūn- (“broken pieces, rubble”). Related to Saterland Frisian Pün (“debris, fragments”), West Frisian pún (“debris, rubble”), Dutch puin (“debris, fragments, rubbish”), Low German pun (“fragments”).

cog

enough sense to pound sand into a rathole

The engine pounds.

(engineering) To make a jarring noise, as when running.


head

en-noun

head (countable and uncountable, plural heads or head)

heads (plural)
head (plural)
heed (alternative obsolete)
hed (alternative obsolete)
'ead (alternative UK pronunciation-spelling)

→ Japanese: ヘッド (heddo)

Sranan Tongo: ede

Aukan: ede

Saramaccan: hédi

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *kap-
Proto-Indo-European *káput-
Proto-Germanic *haubudą
Old English hēafod
Middle English heed
English head
From Middle English hed, from Old English hēafd-, hēafod (“head; top; chief”), from Proto-West Germanic *haubud, from Proto-Germanic *haubudą (“head”), from Proto-Indo-European *káput.
The modern word comes from Old English oblique stem hēafd-; the expected Modern English outcome for hēafod would be *heaved (similar to the Middle English word). Doublet of cape, capo, caput, chef, chief, and Howth.
Cognate with Scots heid, hede, hevid, heved (“head”), Old English hafola (“head”), North Frisian hood (“head”), Dutch hoofd (“head”), German Haupt (“head”), Swedish huvud (“head”), Danish hoved (“head”), Icelandic höfuð (“head”), Latin caput (“head”), Sanskrit कपाल (kapāla, “skull”), Hindi कपाल (kapāl, “skull”).

頭

つぶり, tsuburi, つぃぶる, tsiburu, つぃぶるぃ, tsiburi

pää

principal operative part of a machine or tool

have one's head screwed on the right way

know one's head from a hole in the ground

run around like a chicken with its head cut off

would lose one's head if it wasn't attached

would lose one's head if it wasn't bolted on

would lose one's head if it wasn't glued on

would lose one's head if it wasn't screwed on

would lose one's head if it wasn't stuck on

would lose one's head if it wasn't tied on

would lose one's head if it weren't attached

you can't put an old head on young shoulders

you can't put a wise head on young shoulders

en:topmost or foremost part
en:engineering

(countable) The topmost, foremost, or leading part.

(engineering) The end cap of a cylindrically-shaped pressure vessel.


ablative

From Middle English ablative, ablatife, ablatyf, ablatif, from Old French ablatif (“the ablative case”), from Latin ablātīvus (“expressing removal”), from ablātus (“taken away”), from auferō (“I take away”). The engineering/nautical sense originates from ablate + -ive.

der

The inner layer of warship protection consists of ablative armor plate designed to "boil away" when heated. The vaporized armor material scatters a DEW beam, rendering it ineffectual.

2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Weapons: Ablative Armor Codex entry:

(engineering, nautical, astronautics) Sacrificial, wearing away or being destroyed in order to protect the underlying material, as in ablative paints used for antifouling, or ablative heat shields used to protect spacecraft during reentry. .


decade

decades (plural)
decad (alternative archaic)

From Middle English decade, from Old French decade, from Late Latin decādem (“(set of) ten”), from Ancient Greek δεκάς (dekás), from δέκα (déka, “ten”). In reference to a span of ten years, originally a clipping of the phrase decade of years. By surface analysis, deca- + -ade. Doublet of decad.

teens · twenties · thirties · forties · fifties · sixties · seventies · eighties · nineties

Gay Nineties · Naughty Nineties · Roaring Twenties · Dirty Thirties · Swinging Sixties

There are decades between 1.8 and 18, between 25 and 250 and between 0.03 and 0.003.

(physics, engineering) The interval between any two quantities having a ratio of 10 to 1.

kertaluokka

physics, engineering: interval between any two quantities having a ratio of 10 to 1


nine

en:High availability#"Nines"
en:Nines (notation)
nine

PIE word
 *h₁néwn̥
From Middle English nyne, nine, from Old English nigon (“nine”), from Proto-West Germanic *neun, from Proto-Germanic *newun (“nine”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁néwn̥ (“nine”). Cognate with Scots neen, nine (“nine”), Saterland Frisian njúgen (“nine”), West Frisian njoggen (“nine”), Dutch negen (“nine”), German Low German negen (“nine”), German neun (“nine”), Danish ni (“nine”), Swedish nio (“nine”), Icelandic níu (“nine”), Gothic 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐌽 (niun, “nine”), Latin novem (“nine”), Ancient Greek ἐννέα (ennéa, “nine”), Sanskrit नवन् (navan, “nine”).

my very educated mother just served us nine pizzas

my very educated mother just served us nine pumpkins

my very excellent mother just served us nine pizzas

They guaranteed that our Web site would have 99.99% uptime, or four nines.

(computing, engineering, usually in the plural) A statistical unit of proportion (of reliability, purity, etc.).


open

en-adj

open (comparative more open or (phonetics) opener, superlative most open or (phonetics) openest)

more open (comparative)
opener (comparative)
most open (superlative)
openest (superlative)

closed-source

antonym(s) of “with a free license and no proprietary components”

Adjective from Middle English open, from Old English open (“open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opan, from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”), from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up from under, over”).
Cognates
* Scots apen (“open”)
* Saterland Frisian eepen (“open”)
* West Frisian iepen (“open”)
* Dutch open (“open”)
* Low German open, apen (“open”)
* German offen (“open”)
* Danish åben (“open”)
* Swedish öppen (“open”)
* Norwegian Bokmål åpen (“open”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk open (“open”)
* Icelandic opinn (“open”)
 Compare also Latin supinus (“on one's back, supine”), Albanian hap (“to open”). Related to up.
Verb from Middle English openen, from Old English openian (“to open”), from Proto-West Germanic *opanōn, from Proto-Germanic *upanōną (“to raise; lift; open”), from Proto-Germanic *upanaz (“open”, adjective). Cognate with Saterland Frisian eepenje (“to open”), West Frisian iepenje (“to open”), Dutch openen (“to open”), German öffnen (“to open”), Danish åbne (“to open”), Swedish öppna (“to open”), Norwegian Bokmål åpne (“to open”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Icelandic opna (“to open”). Related to English up.
Noun from Middle English open (“an aperture or opening”), from the verb. In the sports sense, however, a shortening of “open competition”.

inh

at church every time the doors swing open

(usually not comparable) Physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

(engineering, gas and liquid flow, of valve or damper) In a position allowing fluid to flow.


open

en-verb

open (third-person singular simple present opens, present participle opening, simple past and past participle opened)

opens (present singular third-person)
opening (participle present)
opened (participle past)
opened (past)
open (infinitive)
open (first-person present singular)
opened (first-person past singular)
open (present second-person singular)
openest (archaic present second-person singular)
opened (past second-person singular)
openedst (archaic past second-person singular)
opens (present singular third-person)
openeth (archaic present singular third-person)
opened (past singular third-person)
open (plural present)
opened (past plural)
open (present subjunctive)
opened (past subjunctive)
open (imperative present)
opening (participle present)
opened (participle past)

To make or become physically unobstructed, uncovered, etc.

(transitive, intransitive, engineering, gas and liquid flow, of valve or damper) To move to a position allowing fluid to flow.


AA

en-noun

AA (countable and uncountable, plural AAs)

Activated alumina (AA, or γ-Al₂O₃) is an amorphous aluminium oxide prepared by dehydrating Al(OH)₃ at high temperature, […] Arsenic removal on AA is strongly pH-dependent, and is optimal between pH 5.5 and 6.0, which often requires acidification, and subsequent neutralisation to prevent corrosion.

2009, Peter Ravenscroft, Hugh Brammer, Keith Richards, “Removing Arsenic from Drinking Water”, in Arsenic Pollution: A Global Synthesis, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 272:

(chemistry, engineering) Initialism of activated alumina.


ROI

(engineering) Initialism of radius of influence.


feature

→ German: Feature

→ Polish: ficzer

→ Ukrainian: фі́ча (fíča)

From Middle English feture, from Anglo-Norman feture, from Old French faiture, from Latin factūra, from Latin factus, from Latin faciō (“do, make”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”). Doublet of facture.

feature

long, prominent article or item in the media

(engineering) Characteristic forms or shapes of parts. For example, a hole, boss, slot, cut, chamfer, or fillet.


abstraction

en-noun

abstraction (countable and uncountable, plural abstractions)

From Middle English abstraccyone; either from Middle French abstraction or from Medieval Latin abstrāctiō (“separation”), from Latin abstrahō (“draw away”). Equivalent to abstract + -ion.

der

The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles

Oxford University Press
w:Oxford University Press

The act of abstracting, separating, withdrawing, or taking away; withdrawal; the state of being taken away.

(engineering) Removal of water from a river, lake, or aquifer.


abutment

en-noun

abutment (countable and uncountable, plural abutments)

First attested in 1644; engineering sense first attested in 1793. From Old French aboutement. Equivalent to abut + -ment.

(engineering, architecture) The solid portion of a structure that supports the lateral pressure of an arch or vault.

подпора

architecture: support for an arch or vault

Each of the bridges consists of six separate girder spans on brick abutments.

1959 May, “Talking of Trains: Bethnal Green alterations”, in Trains Illustrated, page 236:

(engineering) A construction that supports the ends of a bridge; a structure that anchors the cables on a suspension bridge.

брегови устои

engineering: support for the ends of a bridge

Heavy rains have caused the dam's abutments to seep, raising concern over possible dam failure.

(engineering) The part of a valley or canyon wall against which a dam is constructed.


accumulator

From Latin accumulātor, agent noun of accumulō (“pile up”), accumulate + -or.

(engineering, hydraulics) A container which stores hydraulic power for release, in the form of a pressurized fluid (often suspended within a larger tank of fluid under pressure).

accumulator

hydraulics: container which stores hydraulic power for release


HIV

header isolation valve
header isolation valve#English

(engineering) Initialism of header isolation valve.


close

en-verb

close (third-person singular simple present closes, present participle closing, simple past and past participle closed)

closes (present singular third-person)
closing (participle present)
closed (participle past)
closed (past)
close (infinitive)
close (first-person present singular)
closed (first-person past singular)
close (present second-person singular)
closest (archaic present second-person singular)
closed (past second-person singular)
closedst (archaic past second-person singular)
closes (present singular third-person)
closeth (archaic present singular third-person)
closed (past singular third-person)
close (plural present)
closed (past plural)
close (present subjunctive)
closed (past subjunctive)
close (imperative present)
closing (participle present)
closed (participle past)

From Middle English closen (“to close, enclose”), partly continuing (in altered form) earlier Middle English clusen (“to close”) from Old English clȳsan (“to close, shut”); compare beclose, foreclose, etc.), and partly derived from Middle English clos (“close, shut up, confined, secret”, adjective), from Old French clos (“close, confined”, adjective), from Latin clausus (“shut up”, past participle), from claudere (“to bar, block, close, enclose, bring an end to, confine”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleh₂w- (“key, hook, nail”), related to Latin clāvis (“key, deadbolt, bar”), clāvus (“nail, peg”), claustrum (“bar, bolt, barrier”), claustra (“dam, wall, barricade, stronghold”). Cognate with Ancient Greek κλείς (kleís, “bar, bolt, key”), German schließen (“to close, conclude, lock”), Dutch sluiten (“to close, conclude, lock”). Partially replaced Old English lūcan (“to close, lock, enclose”), (whence English lock). Doublet of clause.

cog

close the stable door after the horse has bolted

(physical) To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.

(transitive, intransitive, engineering, gas and liquid flow, of valve or damper) To move to a position preventing fluid from flowing.


sausage

en-verb

sausage (third-person singular simple present sausages, present participle sausaging, simple past and past participle sausaged)

sausages (present singular third-person)
sausaging (participle present)
sausaged (participle past)
sausaged (past)

From late Middle English sawsiche, from Anglo-Norman sausiche (compare Norman saûciche), from Late Latin salsīcia (compare Sicilian sausizza, Spanish salchicha, Italian salsiccia), feminine of salsīcius (“seasoned with salt”), derivative of Latin salsus (“salted”), from sal (“salt”). More at salt. Doublet of saucisse. See also Sicilian sausizza. Displaced native Old English mearh.

(engineering) To form a sausage-like shape, with a non-uniform cross section.


toe

en-noun

toe (countable and uncountable, plural toes)

heel

antonym(s) of “each of the five digits on the end of the foot”

From Middle English to, from Old English tā, (Mercian) tāhe, from Proto-West Germanic *taihā, from Proto-Germanic *taihwǭ, from *tīhwaną (“to show, announce”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show”).
See also Dutch teen, German Zehe, Danish tå, Swedish tå; also Old English teōn (“to accuse”), German zeihen (“to accuse, blame”); also Hittite [script needed] (tekkuššāi), Latin dīcere (“to say”), digitus (“finger”), Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to point out, show”), Sanskrit दिदेष्टि (dídeṣṭi), दिशति (diśáti).

cog

(engineering) The journal, or pivot, at the lower end of a revolving shaft or spindle, which rests in a step.

(engineering) A lateral projection at one end, or between the ends, of a piece, such as a rod or bolt, by means of which it is moved.

(engineering) A projection from the periphery of a revolving piece, acting as a cam to lift another piece.


hunt

en-verb

hunt (third-person singular simple present hunts, present participle hunting, simple past and past participle hunted)

hunts (present singular third-person)
hunting (participle present)
hunted (participle past)
hunted (past)

From Middle English hunten, from Old English huntian (“to hunt”), from Proto-West Germanic *huntōn (“to hunt, capture”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *ḱent- (“to catch, seize”). Related to Old High German hunda (“booty”), Gothic 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌸𐍃 (hunþs, “body of captives”), Old English hūþ (“plunder, booty, prey”), Old English hentan (“to catch, seize”). More at hent, hint.
In some areas read as a collective form of hound by folk etymology.

cog

you can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds

[…] after which the inertia of the camera causes the motor to hunt with fluctuating speed.

1995, Bernard Wilkie, Special Effects in Television, page 174:

(engineering, intransitive) To be in a state of instability of movement or forced oscillation, as a governor which has a large movement of the balls for small change of load, an arc-lamp clutch mechanism which moves rapidly up and down with variations of current, etc.; also, to seesaw, as a pair of alternators working in parallel.


mill

Ultimately from Latin millesimum. The clipping comes by way of the clipped word, millimetre.

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

For this task, I prefer the plastic sheeting that is 10 mills thick.

(engineering, manufacturing) Alternative form of mil (“one thousandth of an inch”).


gripe

From Middle English gripen, from Old English grīpan, from Proto-Germanic *grīpaną, from Proto-Indo-European *gʰreyb- (“to grab, grasp”). Cognate with West Frisian gripe, Low German griepen, Dutch grijpen, German greifen, Danish gribe, Swedish gripa. See also grip, grope.

der

(engineering, dated) A device for grasping or holding anything; a brake to stop a wheel.

закопчалка

engineering: device for grasping or holding anything


MT

en-noun

MT (countable and uncountable, plural MTs)

(US, engineering) Abbreviation of metric ton.


CM

CM (countable and uncountable, plural CMs)

Sense "commercial" is a borrowing from Japanese CM (CM, “commercial video ad”), from English commercial + message.

configuration management
w:configuration management

(engineering, uncountable) Initialism of configuration management.


hair

hair (countable and uncountable, plural hairs)

From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English hǣr, from Proto-West Germanic *hār, from Proto-Germanic *hērą (“hair”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier (“hair”), West Frisian hier (“hair”), Dutch haar (“hair”), German Low German Haar (“hair”), German Haar (“hair”), Swedish, Danish and Norwegian hår (“hair”), Icelandic hár (“hair”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cheveler, chevelere (“hair”), borrowed from Old French chevelëure (“hair, head-hair, coiffure, wig”).
The modern spelling with ai is not a regular representation of the vowel developed from Middle English. Rather, it is from Middle English here (haircloth) influenced by Old French haire.

noncog

one hair of a woman can draw more than a hundred pair of oxen

(countable, engineering, firearms) A locking spring or other safety device in the lock of a rifle, etc., capable of being released by a slight pressure on a hair-trigger.


neck

From Middle English nekke, nakke, from Old English hnecca, *hnæcca (“neck, nape”), from Proto-Germanic *hnakkô (“nape, neck”), from Proto-Indo-European *knog-, *kneg- (“back of the head, nape, neck”). Cognate with Scots nek (“neck”), North Frisian neek, neeke, Nak (“neck”), Saterland Frisian Näkke (“neck”), West Frisian nekke (“neck”), Dutch nek (“neck”), German Low German Nack (“neck”), German Nacken (“nape of the neck”), Danish nakke (“neck”), Swedish nacke (“nape of the neck”), Icelandic hnakki (“neck”), Tocharian A kñuk (“neck, nape”). Possibly a mutated variant of *kneug/k (compare Old English hnocc (“hook, penis”), Welsh cnwch (“joint, knob”), Latvian knaūķis (“dwarf”). Doublet of nek. More at nook. Displaced halse (“neck, throat”) and swire (“neck”).

a neck forming the journal of a shaft

(engineering) A reduction in size near the end of an object, formed by a groove around it.

kaulus

engineering: reduction in size near the end of an object


snail

From the Middle English snaile, snayle, from the Old English sneġel, from Proto-Germanic *snagilaz. Cognate with Low German Snagel,
Snâel, Snâl (“snail”), German Schnegel (“slug”). Compare also Old Norse snigill, from Proto-Germanic *snigilaz.

(engineering) A spiral cam, or a flat piece of metal of spirally curved outline, used for giving motion to, or changing the position of, another part, as the hammer tail of a striking clock.


face

en-verb

face (third-person singular simple present faces, present participle facing, simple past and past participle faced)

faces (present singular third-person)
facing (participle present)
faced (participle past)
faced (past)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-?
Latin faciēs
Late Latin facia
Old French facebor.
Middle English face
English face
From Middle English face, from Old French face, from Late Latin facia, from Latin faciēs (“form, appearance”). Doublet of facies. Displaced native onlete (“face, countenance, appearance”), anleth (“face”), from Old English anwlite, andwlita, compare German Antlitz; Old English ansīen (“face”), Middle English neb (“face, nose”) (from Old English nebb), Middle English ler, leor, leer (“face, cheek, countenance”) (from Old English hlēor), and non-native Middle English vis (“face, appearance, look”) (from Old French vis) and Middle English chere (“face”) from Old French chere.
In the sense of face as in reputation, influenced by Chinese 面子 (miànzi) or 臉／脸 (liǎn), both of which mean literally the front of the head and metaphorically one's public image. See lose face.

noncog

(engineering) To make the surface of (anything) flat or smooth; to dress the face of (a stone, a casting, etc.); especially, in turning, to shape or smooth the flat (transverse) surface of, as distinguished from the cylindrical (axial) surface.


precise

en-adj

precise (comparative more precise or preciser, superlative most precise or precisest)

more precise (comparative)
preciser (comparative)
most precise (superlative)
precisest (superlative)
præcise (alternative archaic)

From Middle French précis, from Latin praecisus, perfect passive participle of praecīdere, from prae- (“before, in front”) + caedere (“cut; strike”), cognate with English hit. Related to English incise. Doublet of précis.

affix

(sciences, engineering, of data points, strictly) Consistent, clustered close together, agreeing with each other (this does not mean that they cluster near the true, correct, or accurate value).


pin

→ Norwegian Nynorsk: pins

→ Polish: pin

→ Spanish: pin

→ Swahili: pini

→ Swedish: pin, pins

From Middle English pinne, from Old English pinn (“pin, peg, bolt”), from Proto-Germanic *pinnaz, *pinnō, *pint- (“protruding point, peak, peg, pin, nail”), from Proto-Indo-European *bend- (“protruding object, pointed peg, nail, edge”). Related to pen (“enclosure”).
Cognate with Dutch pin (“peg, pin”), Low German pin, pinne (“pin, point, nail, peg”), German Pinn, Pinne (“pin, tack, peg”), Bavarian Pfonzer, Pfunzer (“sharpened point”), Danish pind (“pin, pointed stick”), Norwegian pinn (“stick”), Swedish pinne (“peg, rod, stick”), Icelandic pinni (“pin”). More at pintle.
No relation to classical Latin pinna (“fin, flipper, wing-like appendage, wing, feather”), which was extended to mean "ridge, peak, point" (compare pinnacle), and often confused with Latin penna (“wing, feather”). More at feather and pen (Etymology 3).

cog

(engineering) A short shaft, sometimes forming a bolt, a part of which serves as a journal.


race

en-noun

race (countable and uncountable, plural races)

From Middle English race, partially from Old English rǣs (“a race, swift or violent running, rush, onset”), from Proto-West Germanic *rās; and partially from Old Norse rás (“a running, race”); both from Proto-Germanic *rēsō (“a course”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁reh₁s- (“to flow, rush”). Cognate with Middle Low German râs ("a strong current"; whence German Low German Raas (“mad rush, rage, fury”)), Dutch ras (“a strong whirling current”), Danish ræs, Norwegian and Swedish ras, Norwegian rås.

gl

"a strong current"; whence German Low German <i class="Latn mention" lang="nds-de">Raas</i> (“mad rush, rage, fury”)

These bearings do not employ a loading groove or filling slot but utilize an uninterrupted race groove containing the maximum number of balls that can be introduced by eccentric displacement of the races. Due to the relatively large size of the balls and the fact that the ball curvature is only slightly less than the race curvature, the bearings have comparatively high load carrying capacity in both axial and radial directions.

1965 August 15, Maintenance of Aeronautical Antifriction Bearings, NAVWEPS 01-1A-503, United States Bureau of Naval Weapons, section 2, page 5:

The chances of picking up an inner race fault are small unless the load direction of the bearing coincides with the location of the accelerometer.

1999, Steve Goldman, Vibration Spectrum Analysis, 2nd edition, New York: Industrial Press, →ISBN, page 90:

The bearing comprises four mechanical components: an outer race, an inner race, rollers (balls), and a cage that holds the rollers (balls) in place.

2017, Tian Ran Lin, Kun Yu, Jiwen Tan, “Condition Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis of Roller Element Bearing”, in Pranav H. Darji, editor, Bearing Technology, Rijeka, Croatia: InTech, →DOI, →ISBN, page 40:

A guide or channel that a component of a machine moves along:

(engineering) A ring with a groove in which rolling elements (such as balls) ride, forming part of a rolling-element bearing (for example, a ball bearing).


jerk

Probably from Middle English yerk (“sudden motion”) and Middle English yerkid (“tightly pulled”), from Old English ġearc (“ready, active, quick”) and Old English ġearcian (“to prepare, make ready, procure, furnish, supply”). Cognate with Scots yerk (“to jerk”). Related also to English yare (“ready”).

inh

Because oral sex deprecation and anti-gay bias both have long histories among humans

many of the words for "contemptible person" come from literal terms for anyone who performs oral sex or performs anal sex; see overlap at Thesaurus:gay man

(physics, engineering) The rate of change in acceleration with respect to time.


bear

en-noun

bear (countable and uncountable, plural bears)

Belizean Creole: byaa

→ Hawaiian: pea

→ Irish: béar

→ Maori: pea

→ Niuean: pea

→ Tahitian: pea

→ Tokelauan: pea

→ Tyap: a̱bya

→ Wallisian: pea

→ Xhosa: ibhere

From Middle English bere, from Old English bera, from Proto-West Germanic *berō, from Proto-Germanic *berô (compare West Frisian bear, Dutch beer, German Bär, Danish bjørn).
etymology notes
This is generally taken to be from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“shining, brown”) (compare Tocharian A parno, Tocharian B perne (“radiant, luminous”), Lithuanian bė́ras (“brown”)), related to brown, bruin, and beaver.
On this theory, the Germanic languages replaced the older name of the bear, *h₂ŕ̥tḱos, with the epithet "brown one", presumably due to taboo avoidance; compare Russian медве́дь (medvédʹ, “bear”, literally “honey-eater”).
However, Ringe (2006:106) doubts the existence of a root *bʰer- meaning "brown" ("an actual PIE word of [the requisite] shape and meaning is not recoverable") and suggests that a derivation from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰwer- (“wild animal”) "should therefore perhaps be preferred", implying a Germanic merger of *ǵʰw and *gʷʰ (*gʷʰ may sometimes result in Germanic *b, perhaps e.g. in *bidjaną, but it also seems to have given the g in gun and the w in warm).

der

don't sell the skin till you have caught the bear

sometimes you eat the bear and sometimes the bear eats you

(engineering) A portable punching machine.


lead

en-noun

lead (countable and uncountable, plural leads)

leads (plural)
lede (alternative obsolete)
leed (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English leden, from Old English lǣdan (“to lead”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijan, from Proto-Germanic *laidijaną (“to cause one to go, lead”), causative of Proto-Germanic *līþaną (“to go”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to leave, die”).
Cognate with West Frisian liede (“to lead”), Dutch leiden (“to lead”), German leiten (“to lead”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål lede (“to lead”), Norwegian Nynorsk leia (“to lead”), Swedish leda (“to lead”). Related to Old English līþan (“to go, travel”).

der

(engineering) The axial distance a screw thread travels in one revolution. It is equal to the pitch times the number of starts.

(engineering) The excess above a right angle in the angle between two consecutive cranks, as of a compound engine, on the same shaft.


dwell

From Middle English dwellen (“delay, live, remain, persist”), from Old English dwellan (“to mislead, deceive; be led into error, stray”), from Proto-Germanic *dwaljaną (“to hold up, delay; hesitate”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰwelH- (“to whirl, swirl, blur, obfuscate”), which is cognate with Old Norse dvelja and related to Proto-Germanic *dwelaną (“to go astray”), which underwent semantic change in its descendants. Cognates include Danish dvæle (“to linger, dwell”) and Swedish dväljas (“to dwell, reside”).

cog

(engineering) A period of time in which a system or component remains in a given state.

(engineering) A brief pause in the motion of part of a mechanism to allow an operation to be completed.


dwell

en-verb

dwell (third-person singular simple present dwells, present participle dwelling, simple past and past participle dwelt or (mostly US) dwelled)

dwells (present singular third-person)
dwelling (participle present)
dwelt (participle past)
dwelt (past)
dwelled (US participle past)
dwelled (US past)

(intransitive, engineering) To be in a given state.


hurt

en-noun

hurt (countable and uncountable, plural hurts)

From Middle English hurten, hirten, hertan (“to injure, scathe, knock together”), from Old Northern French hurter ("to ram into, strike, collide with"; > Modern French heurter), perhaps from Frankish *hūrt (“a battering ram”), cognate with Welsh hwrdd (“ram”) and Cornish hordh (“ram”). Compare Proto-Germanic *hrūtaną, *hreutaną (“to fall, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *krew- (“to fall, beat, smash, strike, break”); however, the earliest instances of the verb in Middle English are as old as those found in Old French, which leads to the possibility that the Middle English word may instead be a reflex of an unrecorded Old English *hyrtan, which later merged with the Old French verb. Germanic cognates include Dutch horten (“to push against, strike”), Middle Low German hurten (“to run at, collide with”), Middle High German hurten (“to push, bump, attack, storm, invade”), Old Norse hrútr (“battering ram”).
Alternate etymology traces Old Northern French hurter rather to Old Norse hrútr (“ram (male sheep)”), lengthened-grade variant of hjǫrtr (“stag”), from Proto-Germanic *herutuz, *herutaz (“hart, male deer”), which would relate it to English hart (“male deer”). See hart.

gloss

"to ram into, strike, collide with"; > Modern French <i class="Latn mention" lang="fr">heurter</i>

cog

(engineering) A band on a trip hammer's helve, bearing the trunnions.


keep

en-noun

keep (countable and uncountable, plural keeps)

From Middle English kepe, kep, from the verb (see above).

(engineering) A cap for holding something, such as a journal box, in place.


reactor

(chemistry, engineering) A structure used to contain chemical or other reactions.


shoe

shoe (plural shoes or (archaic, dialectal) shoon or (obsolete) shoen)

shoes (plural)
shoon (archaic dialectal plural)
shoen (obsolete plural)

From Middle English scho, sho, from Old English sċōh (“shoe”), from Proto-West Germanic *skōh, from Proto-Germanic *skōhaz (“shoe”), of unclear etymology; possibly a derivation from *skehaną (“to move quickly”), from Proto-Indo-European *skek- (“to move quickly, jump”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English sabatine, sabatoun (“shoe”) from Medieval Latin sabatēnum, sabatum (“shoe, slipper”) (compare Old Occitan sabatō, Spanish zapato (“shoe”), French sabot (“wooden shoe, clog”), Italian ciabatta). The archaic plural shoon is from Middle English shon, from Old English scōn, scōum (“shoes”, dative plural) and scōna (“shoes'”, genitive plural); it is cognate with Scots shuin (“shoes”). See also Scots shae, West Frisian skoech, Low German Schoh, Dutch schoen, German Schuh, Bavarian Schuach, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish sko, Tocharian B skāk (“balcony”).

skoen

something resembling a shoe (e.g. brake shoe)

you cannot put the same shoe on every foot

Something resembling a shoe in form, position, or function, such as a brake shoe.

(engineering) A plate, or notched piece, interposed between a moving part and the stationary part on which it bears, to take the wear and afford means of adjustment; called also slipper and gib.


straight

en-adj

straight (comparative straighter, superlative straightest)

straighter (comparative)
straightest (superlative)
streight (alternative obsolete)

→ Japanese: ストレート

From Middle English streight, streght, streiȝt, the past participle of strecchen (“to stretch”), from Old English streċċan (past participle ġestreaht, ġestreht), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch”). Doublet of straught. Equivalent to stretch + -ed.

der

(engineering, of an internal-combustion engine) Having all cylinders in a single straight line; in-line.


bug

bugs (plural)
bugg (alternative obsolete)

First attested in this form around 1620 (referring to a “bedbug”), from earlier bugge (“beetle”), from Middle English bugge (“scarecrow, hobgoblin”) which is traced alternatively to:
* a Celtic root found in Scots bogill (“goblin, bugbear”) and obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat, fear”) and Isthmus Mixe bocanách (“supernatural being”).
* Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰew-, *bu- (“to swell”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge (“goblin, snot”).
* or to a word related to buck and originally referring to a goat-shaped spectre.
For the “insect” meaning the assonance with Middle English budde (“beetle”), from Old English budda, from Proto-Germanic *buddô, *buzdô, from the same ultimate source as above, might have played a role. Compare Low German Budde (“louse, grub”), Norwegian budda (“newborn domestic animal”)). More at bud. But ultimately this convergence of meaning doesn't prove a conflation of the two terms, they might have existed parallely since PIE times with similar meanings, even if unnoticed by literary sources.
The term is used to refer to technical errors and problems at least as early as the 19th century, predating the commonly known story of a moth being caught in a computer.

cog

given enough eyeballs, all bugs are shallow

The software bug led the computer to calculate 2 plus 2 as 3.

I have the right principle and am on the right track, but time, hard work and some good luck are necessary too. It has been just so in all of my inventions. The first step is an intuition, and comes with a burst, then difficulties arise — this thing gives out and [it is] then that "Bugs" — as such little faults and difficulties are called — show themselves and months of intense watching, study and labor are requisite before commercial success or failure is certainly reached.

1878, Thomas P. Hughes, quoting Thomas Edison, Edison to Puskas, 13 November 1878, Edison papers, quoted in American Genesis: A History of the American Genius for Invention, Edison National Laboratory, U.S. National Park Service, West Orange, N.J.: Penguin Books, published 1989, →ISBN, page 75:

A... leading aluminum producer claims it has worked all the bugs out of building and servicing aluminum radiators, says it hopes to have a large chunk of the radiator market by the early nineteen seventies.

(chiefly computing, engineering jargon) A problem that needs fixing.

خَطَأ

problem that needs fixing (especially in computing)


rung

→ Irish: runga

From Middle English rung, from Old English hrung, from Proto-West Germanic *hrungu, from Proto-Germanic *hrungō. Cognate with Dutch rong (“pole, stanchion”), German Runge (“stake, pole, stanchion”), Gothic 𐌷𐍂𐌿𐌲𐌲𐌰 (hrugga, “a staff”).

(engineering, dated) One of the radial handles projecting from the rim of a steering wheel.

(engineering, dated) One of the pins or trundles of a lantern wheel.


set

From Middle English set, sette, from Old English set (“seat, place of residence, camp, settlement, entrenchment, stable, pen”), from Proto-West Germanic *set (“seat”), from Proto-Germanic *setą (“seat”).

inh

the set of a spring

The wings were bent or set permanently 2 to 3 inches upward at the wingtips; however, the set was within the manufacturer's allowable tolerances.

1986 March 29, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.12 Wreckage and Impact Information”, in Aircraft Accident Report: China Airlines Boeing 747-SP, N4522V, 300 Nautical Miles Northwest of San Francisco, California, February 19, 1985, archived from the original on 2022-07-10, page 12:

(engineering) A permanent change of shape caused by excessive strain, as from compression, tension, bending, twisting, etc.

muodonmuutos

engineering: permanent change of shape caused by excessive strain


shear

en-verb

shear (third-person singular simple present shears, present participle shearing, simple past sheared or shore, past participle shorn or sheared)

shears (present singular third-person)
shearing (participle present)
sheared (past)
shore (past)
shorn (participle past)
sheared (participle past)

From Middle English sheren, scheren, from Old English sċieran (“to shear; to shave”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeran, from Proto-Germanic *skeraną, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”).
Cognate with West Frisian skarre, Low German scheren, Dutch scheren, German scheren, Danish skære, Norwegian Bokmål skjære, Norwegian Nynorsk skjera, Swedish skära, Finnish keritä; and (from Indo-European) with Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō, “I cut off”), Latin caro (“flesh”), Albanian shqerr (“to tear, cut”), harr (“to cut, to mow”), Lithuanian ski̇̀rti (“separate”), Welsh ysgar (“separate”). See also sharp.

inh

(engineering) (also 'shear off') To break or suddenly separate because of excessive force, eg. a bolt.


swing

en-verb

swing (third-person singular simple present swings, present participle swinging, simple past swung or (archaic or dialectal) swang, past participle swung or (archaic) swungen)

swings (present singular third-person)
swinging (participle present)
swung (past)
swang (archaic dialectal past)
swung (participle past)
swungen (archaic participle past)

From Middle English swyngen, from Old English swingan, from Proto-West Germanic *swingan, from Proto-Germanic *swinganą (compare Low German swingen, German schwingen, Dutch zwingen, Swedish svinga), from Proto-Indo-European *swenk-, *sweng- (compare Scottish Gaelic seang (“thin”)). Related to swink.

lyödä kierre

cricket: to make the ball move sideways in its trajectory

The lathe can swing a pulley of 12 inches diameter.

(transitive, engineering) To admit or turn something for the purpose of shaping it; said of a lathe.


round

rounds (plural)
around (alternative)
ron (alternative)

From Middle English round, rounde, from Old Northern French roünt, rund, Old French ront, runt, reont ( > French rond), from both Late Latin retundus and the original Latin rotundus. The noun developed partly from the adjective and partly from the corresponding French noun rond. Doublet of rotund.

rendi

card games: moment from the deal until the players are finished with the cards

(engineering, drafting, CAD) A rounded relief or cut at an edge, especially an outside edge, added for a finished appearance and to soften sharp edges.


box

en-noun

box (plural boxes or (nonstandard, computing, humorous) boxen)

boxes (plural)
boxen (humorous nonstandard plural)

Tok Pisin: bokis

→ Afrikaans: boks

→ Bengali: বাক্স (bakśo)

→ Bulgarian: бокс (boks)

→ Crimean Tatar: boks

→ Danish: boks

→ Dutch: box m

→ Faroese: boks

→ French: box m

→ German: Box f

→ Hindustani:

Hindi: बकस m (bakas), बक्सा m (baksā)

Urdu: بکس m (baks, bakas)

→ Icelandic: box n

→ Indonesian: boks

→ Irish: bosca m

→ Italian: box m

→ Japanese: ボックス (bokkusu)

→ Korean: 박스 (bakseu)

→ Maori: pāka

→ Marwari: बकस (baks, bakas)

→ Nepali: बाकस (bākas)

→ Norman: bosc m

→ Norwegian: boks m

→ Pashto: بکس (baks)

→ Persian: باکس (bâks)

→ Polish: boks m

→ Portuguese: box m

→ Russian: бокс m (boks)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bogsa m, bocsa

→ Spanish: box m

→ Swedish: box c

→ Welsh: bocs

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek πῠ́ξος (pŭ́xos)
Ancient Greek -ις (-is)
Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís)bor.
Late Latin buxisbor.
Proto-West Germanic *buhsā
Old English box
Middle English box
English box
From Middle English box (“container, box, cup”), from Old English box (“box, case”), from Proto-West Germanic *buhsā (“box”) from Late Latin buxis (“box”), Latin pyxis (“small box for medicines or toiletries”), of uncertain origin; compare Ancient Greek πύξος (púxos, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”) and Ancient Greek πυξίς (puxís, “box or tablet made of boxwood; box; cylinder”). Doublet of piseog, pyx, and pyxis.
Cognate with Middle Dutch bosse, busse (“jar; tin; round box”) (modern Dutch bos (“wood, forest”), bus (“container, box; bushing of a wheel”)), Old High German buhsa (Middle High German buhse, bühse, modern German Büchse (“box; can”)), Swedish bössa (“box”).
The humorous plural form boxen is from box + -en, by analogy with oxen.

кутия

compartment or receptacle for receiving items

ramme

rectangular border around an image, text, etc.

квадратче

small area on a document for a tick mark

tofu

empty box displayed by some computer systems in place of a character not supported by available fonts

In common axles, the wheel is prevented from coming off by a pin, called the linch pin, passing through the end of the axletree arm, the name of the part that the wheel turns upon; but as many serious accidents have happened through the linch pin failing and the wheel coming off, an improved method of securing the latter is now practised, by means of a box called the axletree box, which is contrived to answer the double purpose of keeping on the wheel, and to hold oil, grease, or some lubricating substance for lessening the friction.

1844, Thomas Webster, assisted by the late Mrs. [William] Parkes, “[Book XXIII. Carriages.] Chap. VI. Various Details Respecting the Parts of a Carriage.”, in An Encyclopædia of Domestic Economy: […], London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, […], →OCLC, paragraph 6684, page 1124:

Senses relating to a three-dimensional object or space.

(engineering) A cylindrical casing around the axle of a wheel, a bearing, a gland, etc.


box

en-verb

box (third-person singular simple present boxes, present participle boxing, simple past and past participle boxed)

boxes (present singular third-person)
boxing (participle present)
boxed (participle past)
boxed (past)

[T]he death of the said deceased Daniel Docherty, while in the defender's employment as an engineman, […] is alleged to have been owing to the engine house, which contained the engine of which the deceased had charge, being of a dangerous and improper construction, and the fly-wheel not having been boxed in or covered: […]

1862 February 25, Archibald Alison (judge), “Sarah Hamil, or Docherty, relict of the deceased Daniel Docherty, Agnes Docherty, and Sarah Docherty, residing with her, his daughters and only children, v. James Alexander, Glasgow, Calenderer, defender”, in The Scottish Law Magazine and Sheriff Court Reporter, volume I (New Series), Glasgow: Thomas Murray & Son, […]; Edinburgh: Maclachlan and Stewart, published December 1862, →OCLC, page 41, column 1:

(transitive, engineering) To furnish (for example, the axle of a wheel) with a box.


brake

brakes (plural)
break (alternative rare)

→ Japanese: ブレーキ (burēki)

→ Korean: 브레이크 (beureikeu)

→ Portuguese: breque

→ Swahili: breki

→ Thai: เบรก (brèek)

→ Welsh: brêc

Origin uncertain; possibly from Middle Dutch or Middle Low German brake (“nose ring, curb, flax brake”), which according to Watkins is related to sense 4 and from Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”).

逼力

bik¹⁻⁶ lik⁶⁻¹

A device used to slow or stop the motion of a wheel, or of a vehicle, usually by friction (although other resistive forces, such as electromagnetic fields or aerodynamic drag, can also be used); also, the controls or apparatus used to engage such a mechanism such as the pedal in a car.

(engineering) An apparatus for testing the power of a steam engine or other motor by weighing the amount of friction that the motor will overcome; a friction brake.


pig

en-noun

pig (countable and uncountable, plural pigs)

Hawaiian Creole: pig

Torres Strait Creole: pig

Tok Pisin: pik

→ Abenaki: piks (from "pigs")

→ Malecite-Passamaquoddy: piks (from "pigs")

Pronunciation example of the word Pig in British English.ogg

From Middle English pigge (“pig, pigling”) (originally a term for a young pig, with adult pigs being swyn), apparently from Old English *picga (attested only in compounds, such as picgbrēad (“mast, pig-fodder”)), from Proto-West Germanic *piggō, *puggō (“piglet”). Compare Middle Dutch pogge, puggen, pigge, pegsken (“pigling”), Middle Low German pugge, pûke (“piglet”). Pokorny suggests this root might be somehow related to *bū-, *bew- (“to blow; swell”), which could account for the alternation between "pig" and "big".
A connection to early modern Dutch bigge (contemporary big (“piglet”)), West Frisian bigge (“pigling”), and similar terms in Middle Low German is sometimes proposed, "but the phonology is difficult". Some sources say the words are "almost certainly not" related, others consider a relation "probable, but not certain".
The slang sense of "police officer" is attested since at least 1785.

cuto (Northern Spain - specifically Aragon, La Rioja and Navarra)

even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while

Unfortunately, the pig sent to clear the obstruction got lodged in a tight bend, adding to the problem.

(engineering) A device for cleaning or inspecting the inside of an oil or gas pipeline, or for separating different substances within the pipeline. Named for the pig-like squealing noise made by their progress.

porsas

device to clean or inspect a pipe from inside


pig

en-verb

pig (third-person singular simple present pigs, present participle pigging, simple past and past participle pigged)

pigs (present singular third-person)
pigging (participle present)
pigged (participle past)
pigged (past)

(transitive, engineering) To clean (a pipeline) using a pig (the device).


plate

→ Maori: pereti

→ Hindi: प्लेट (pleṭ)

From Middle English plate, from Old French plate, from Medieval Latin plata, from Vulgar Latin *plat(t)us, from Ancient Greek πλατύς (platús, “broad, flat, wide”). Compare Spanish plato.
(foot): Cockney rhyming slang, from "plates of meat" for "feet".

der

(engineering, electricity) A flat electrode such as can be found in an accumulator battery, or in an electrolysis tank.

Regulating the oscillator plate voltage greatly improves the keying.

(engineering, electricity) The anode of a vacuum tube.


dead

en-adj

dead (not generally comparable, comparative deader, superlative deadest)

deader (comparative)
deadest (superlative)

From Middle English ded, deed, from Old English dēad, from Proto-West Germanic *daud, from Proto-Germanic *daudaz. Compare West Frisian dead, dea, Dutch dood, German tot, Danish, Norwegian død, Norwegian Nynorsk daud.

(to have) gone to one's final resting place

the dead spindle of a lathe

A dead axle, also called a lazy axle, is not part of the drivetrain, but is instead free-rotating.

(engineering) Intentionally designed so as not to impart motion or power.


loss

en-noun

loss (countable and uncountable, plural losses)

From Middle English los, from Old English los (“damage, destruction, loss”), from Proto-West Germanic *los, from Proto-Germanic *lusą (“dissolution, break-up, loss”), from Proto-Indo-European *lews- (“to cut, sunder, separate, loose, lose”).
Cognate with Icelandic los (“dissolution, looseness, break-up”), Old English lor, forlor (“loss, ruin”), Middle High German verlor (“loss, ruin”). More at lose.

cog

The inefficiency of many old-fashioned power plants exceeds 60% loss before the subsequent losses during transport over the grid.

(engineering) Electricity of kinetic power expended without doing useful work.

за́губа

engineering: power expended without doing useful work


live

en-adj

live (comparative more live, superlative most live)

more live (comparative)
most live (superlative)

the live spindle of a lathe

a live, or driving, axle

(engineering) Imparting power; having motion.


lift

en-noun

lift (countable and uncountable, plural lifts)

→ Cantonese: 𨋢 /䢂 (lip¹)

→ Dutch: lift
→ Papiamentu: left

→ Malay: lif

desctree

→ Russian: лифт (lift)
→ Armenian: լիֆտ (lift)
→ Georgian: ლიფტი (lipṭi)
→ Kazakh: лифт (lift)
→ Mongolian: лифт (lift)
→ Uyghur: لىفت (lift)
→ Uzbek: lift
→ Yakut: лифт (lift)

→ Swahili: lifti

→ Swedish: lift

From Middle English liften, lyften, from Old Norse lypta (“to lift, air”, literally “to raise in the air”), from Proto-Germanic *luftijaną (“to raise in the air”), related to *luftuz (“roof, air”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *lewp- (“to peel, break off, damage”) or from a root meaning roof (see *luftuz). Cognate with Danish and Norwegian Bokmål løfte (“to lift”), Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish lyfta (“to lift”), German lüften (“to air, lift”), Old English lyft (“air”). See above. 1851 for the noun sense "a mechanical device for vertical transport".
(To steal): For this sense Cleasby suggests perhaps a relation to the root of Gothic 𐌷𐌻𐌹𐍆𐍄𐌿𐍃 (hliftus) "thief", cognate with Latin cleptus and Greek κλέπτω (kléptō)).

der

(engineering) One of the steps of a cone pulley.

porras

engineering: one of the steps of a cone pulley


stop

From Middle English stoppen, stoppien, from Old English stoppian (“to stop, close”), from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn, from Proto-Germanic *stuppōną (“to stop, close”), *stuppijaną (“to push, pierce, prick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewp-, *(s)tewb- (“to push; stick”), from *(s)tew- (“to bump; impact; butt; push; beat; strike; hit”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian stopje (“to stop, block”), West Frisian stopje (“to stop”), Dutch stoppen (“to stop”), Low German stoppen (“to stop”), German stopfen (“to be filling, stuff”), German stoppen (“to stop”), Danish stoppe (“to stop”), Swedish stoppa (“to stop”), Icelandic stoppa (“to stop”), Middle High German stupfen, stüpfen (“to pierce”). More at stuff, stump.
Alternative etymology derives Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn from an assumed Vulgar Latin *stūpāre, *stuppāre (“to stop up with tow”), from stūpa, stīpa, stuppa (“tow, flax, oakum”), from Ancient Greek στύπη (stúpē), στύππη (stúppē, “tow, flax, oakum”). This derivation, however, is doubtful, as the earliest instances of the Germanic verb do not carry the meaning of "stuff, stop with tow". Rather, these senses developed later in response to influence from similar sounding words in Latin and Romance.

cog

A device intended to block the path of a moving object

(engineering) A device, or piece, as a pin, block, pawl, etc., for arresting or limiting motion, or for determining the position to which another part shall be brought.

ограничител

engineering: device for arresting or limiting motion


flash

From Middle English flashe, flaske, also found as flosche and flushe (whence modern English flosh and flush), used in Middle and modern English for bodies of water with varying emphasis on them being "pools" or "marshes". It is not entirely clear whether these constitute a single term with varied spellings, or have distinct etymologies. The form flash, flashe is often suggested to be from Old French flache, French flaque, which is of Germanic origin, akin to Middle Dutch vlacke (“an estuary, flats with stagnant pools”). See flush for more on that form.

(engineering) A reservoir and sluiceway beside a navigable stream, just above a shoal, so that the stream may pour in water as boats pass, and thus bear them over the shoal.


solenoid

From French solénoïde, from Ancient Greek σωληνοειδής (sōlēnoeidḗs) (from σωλήν (sōlḗn, “channel, pipe”) + -ειδής (-eidḗs); see -oid).

(engineering) An electromechanical device consisting of such a coil containing a metal core, the movement of which is controlled by the current.


coalesce

en-verb

coalesce (third-person singular simple present coalesces, present participle coalescing, simple past and past participle coalesced)

coalesces (present singular third-person)
coalescing (participle present)
coalesced (participle past)
coalesced (past)

/ˌkəʊ.əˈlɛs/

From Latin coalēscō, from co- + alēscō (“grow up”).

(engineering) To bond pieces of metal into a continuous whole by liquefying parts of each piece, bringing the liquids into contact, and allowing the combined liquid to solidify.


profile

profile (third-person singular simple present profiles, present participle profiling, simple past and past participle profiled)

profiles (present singular third-person)
profiling (participle present)
profiled (participle past)
profiled (past)

From French profil, from Italian profilo (“a border”), later also proffilo (“a side-face, profile”), from Latin pro (“before”) + filo (“a line, stroke, thread”), from filum (“a thread”); see file. Doublet of purfle.

(transitive, engineering) To give a definite form by chiselling, milling, etc.


leader

→ Catalan: líder

→ Czech: lídr

→ Galician: líder

→ Japanese: リーダー (rīdā)

→ Korean: 리더 (rideo)

→ Polish: lider

→ Portuguese: líder

→ Romanian: lider

→ Russian: ли́дер (líder)

→ Spanish: líder

→ Turkish: lider

→ Ukrainian: лі́дер (líder)

From Middle English leder, ledere, from Old English lǣdere (“leader”), from Proto-West Germanic *laidijārī (“leader”), equivalent to lead + -er. Cognate with Scots ledar, leidar (“leader”), West Frisian lieder (“leader”), Dutch leider (“leader”), German Leiter (“leader, conductor, manager”), Danish leder (“leader, manager”), Swedish ledare (“leader, conductor, director”), Icelandic leiðari (“leader, conductor”).

cog

Someone or something that leads or conducts.

(engineering) The drive wheel in any kind of machinery.


link

Azerbaijani: link

Belarusian: лінк (link)

Bulgarian: линк (link)

Catalan: link

Chinese:

Hong Kong Cantonese: link (ling1), 拎 (ling1)

Czech: link

Danish: link

Dutch: link

Estonian: link

Finnish: linkki

Georgian: ლინკი (linḳi)

German: link

Hebrew: לינק (línk)

Hindi: लिंक (liṅk)

Hungarian: link

Italian: link

Japanese: リンク (rinku)

Korean: 링크 (ringkeu)

Lower Sorbian: link

Macedonian: линк (link)

Persian: لینک (link)

Polish: link

Portuguese: link

Romanian: link

Serbo-Croatian: линк, link

Slovak: link

Spanish: link

Russian: линк (link)

Thai: ลิงก์ (líng)

Turkish: link

Ukrainian: лінк (link)

Yiddish: לינק (link)

From Middle English linke, lenke, from a merger of Old English hlenċe, hlenċa (“ring; chainlink”) and Old Norse *hlenkr, hlekkr (“ring; chain”); both from Proto-Germanic *hlankiz (“ring; bond; fettle; fetter”). Used in English since the 14th century. Related to lank.

tejlidhje

computing: short for hyperlink — see also hyperlink

a chain is only as strong as its weakest link

(engineering) Any intermediate rod or piece for transmitting force or motion, especially a short connecting rod with a bearing at each end; specifically (in steam engines) the slotted bar, or connecting piece, to the opposite ends of which the eccentric rods are jointed, and by means of which the movement of the valve is varied, in a link motion.

шарни́р

engineering: intermediate rod or piece for transmitting force or motion


order

en-noun

order (countable and uncountable, plural orders)

orders (plural)
ordre (alternative obsolete)

→ Swahili: oda

From Middle English ordre, from Old French ordre, ordne, ordene (“order, rank”), from Latin ōrdinem, accusative of ōrdō (“row, rank, regular arrangement”, literally “row of threads in a loom”), from Proto-Italic *ordō (“to arrange”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂or-d-, from *h₂er-.
Related to Latin ōrdior (“begin”, literally “begin to weave”). In sense “request for purchase”, compare bespoke. Doublet of ordo.

cog

on another order

(sciences, engineering, logic) Scale: size or scope.


DOB

(engineering) Initialism of degree of bending.


delta

From Ancient Greek δέλτα (délta), borrowed from a Phoenician word for "door", ultimately from Proto-Semitic *dalt-. Doublet of dalet.
* (river): from the triangular shape of the majuscule Greek letter delta Δ
* (USSF): from the delta wing, symbol of the USSF, a triangular wing, shaped like the majuscule Greek letter delta Δ

ΔV - "delta vee"(change in velocity, used in rocketry and orbital mechanics)

(mathematics, physics, engineering) The symbol Δ; A change in a quantity, likely from "d" for "difference".


stud

(engineering) A short rod or pin, fixed in and projecting from something, and sometimes forming a journal.


line

→ Scottish Gaelic: loidhne

From Middle English line, lyne, from Old English līne (“line, cable, rope, hawser, series, row, rule, direction”), from Proto-West Germanic *līnā, from Proto-Germanic *līnǭ (“line, rope, flaxen cord, thread”), from Proto-Germanic *līną (“flax, linen”), from Proto-Indo-European *līno- (“flax”).
Influenced in Middle English by Middle French ligne (“line”), from Latin linea. More at linen.
The oldest sense of the word is “rope, cord, thread”; from this the senses “path”, “continuous mark” were derived.

lyn

path through two or more points, threadlike mark

lyn

single horizontal row of text on a screen, printed paper, etc.

linja

measure of length, the main division of an inch or its local equivalent

the engine is in line / out of line

(engineering) Proper relative position or adjustment (of parts, not as to design or proportion, but with reference to smooth working).

uitlijning

engineering: proper relative position or adjustment of parts


flight

en-noun

flight (countable and uncountable, plural flights)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *plew-
Proto-Indo-European *plewk-der.
Proto-Germanic *fleuganą
Proto-West Germanic *fleugan
Proto-West Germanic *-þi
Proto-West Germanic *fluhti
Old English flyht
Middle English flight
English flight
From Middle English flight, from Old English flyht (“flight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti (“flight”), derived from *fleuganą (“to fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). Analyzable as fly + -t (variant of -th).
Cognate with West Frisian flecht (“flight”), Dutch vlucht (“flight”), German Flucht (“flight”) (etymology 2).

etymon

(engineering) The shaped material forming the thread of a screw.


feather

en-verb

feather (third-person singular simple present feathers, present participle feathering, simple past and past participle feathered)

feathers (present singular third-person)
feathering (participle present)
feathered (participle past)
feathered (past)
fether (alternative archaic)

From Middle English feþer, from Old English feþer, from Proto-West Germanic *feþru, from Proto-Germanic *feþrō, from Proto-Indo-European *péth₂r̥ (“feather, wing”), from *peth₂- (“to fly”).
See also West Frisian fear, German Low German Fedder, Dutch veder, veer, German Feder, Yiddish פֿעדער (feder), Danish fjer, Swedish fjäder, Icelandic fjöður, Faroese fjøður, Norwegian Bokmål fjær, fjør, Norwegian Nynorsk fjør. Also Ancient Greek πέτομαι (pétomai), Albanian shpend (“bird”), Latin penna, Old Armenian թիռ (tʻiṙ).
The sense correlated with splines and keys (sense 4) probably reflects analogy with the fletching sense (sense 3).

inh

(carpentry, engineering) To finely shave or bevel an edge.

viistää

carpentry, engineering: to finely shave or bevel an edge


staff

en-noun

staff (countable and uncountable, plural staffs or staves)

Token (railway signalling)#Staff and ticket

→ French: staff

→ Italian: staff

→ Japanese: スタッフ (sutaffu)

→ Korean: 스태프 (seutaepeu)

→ Malay: staf

desc

→ Portuguese: stafe, staff, estafe (Brazil)

→ Spanish: staff

From Middle English staf, from Old English stæf (“letter of the alphabet”), from Proto-West Germanic *stab, from Proto-Germanic *stabaz. Cognate with Dutch staf, German Stab, Swedish stav.
Sense of "group of military officers that assists a commander" and similar meanings, attested from 1702, is influenced by or is even from German Stab.

inh

(engineering) An arbor, as of a wheel or a pinion of a watch.


closed

(engineering, gas and liquid flow, of valve or damper) In a position preventing fluid from flowing.


center

centers (plural)
centre (alternative Australia Canada Commonwealth Ireland New-Zealand South-Africa UK including usually)

From Middle English center, centre, from Middle French centre, from Latin centrum, from Ancient Greek κέντρον (kéntron), from κεντεῖν (kenteîn, “to prick, goad”). Doublet of centrum.
* (group theory): In the notation Z(G), the letter Z derives from the German Zentrum (“center”).

sentrum

point equidistant from all points on the perimeter of a circle

مَرْكَز

point in the interior of figure with mean coordinates

A certain mechanical implement functioning in the middle of a whole apparatus

(engineering) One of the two conical steel pins in a lathe, etc., upon which the work is held, and about which it revolves.

kärki

engineering: one of the two conical steel pins in a lathe

(engineering) A conical recess or indentation in the end of a shaft or other work, to receive the point of a center, on which the work can turn, as in a lathe.


center

en-verb

center (third-person singular simple present centers, present participle centering, simple past and past participle centered)

centers (present singular third-person)
centering (participle present)
centered (participle past)
centered (past)
centre (alternative Australia Canada Commonwealth Ireland New-Zealand South-Africa UK including usually)

(engineering) To form a recess or indentation for the reception of a center.


gear

gear (third-person singular simple present gears, present participle gearing, simple past and past participle geared)

gears (present singular third-person)
gearing (participle present)
geared (participle past)
geared (past)

From Middle English gere, a borrowing from Old Norse gervi, from Proto-Germanic *garwijaną (“to prepare”). See also adjective yare, yar from the same root via Old English.

der

(engineering, transitive) To provide with gearing; to fit with gears in order to achieve a desired gear ratio.

in een versnelling komen

(engineering, intransitive) To be in gear, come into gear.


slave

Inherited from Middle English sclave, from Old French sclave, from Medieval Latin sclavus (“slave”), from Late Latin Sclavus (“Slav”), traditionally assumed to be because Slavs were often forced into slavery in the Middle Ages. The Latin word is from Byzantine Greek Σκλάβος (Sklábos); see that entry and Slav for more. Displaced native Old English þēow. Thrall and bondsman/bondswoman, however, remain common synonyms. Doublet of ciao and Slav.
An alternative hypothesis derives sclavus from Ancient Greek σκῡλεύω (skūleúō), σκῡλάω (skūláō, “to strip or despoil a slain enemy”).

If you administer your own reverse DNS zones, remember to include them in your slave configuration.

2011, Roderick W. Smith, LPIC-2 Linux Professional Institute Certification Study Guide, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN:

(engineering, computing, photography) A device (such as a secondary flash or hard drive) that is subject to the control of another (a master).

slave

device that is controlled by another device


risk

en-noun

risk (countable and uncountable, plural risks)

risks (plural)
risque (alternative archaic)

From earlier risque, from Middle French risque, from Old Italian risco (“risk”) (modern Italian rischio) and rischiare (“to run into danger”). Displaced native Old English pleoh (“risk”) and plēon (“to risk”).
speculation on earlier roots
Most dictionaries consider the etymology of these Italian terms uncertain, but some suggest they perhaps come from Vulgar Latin *resecum (“that which cuts, rock, crag”) (> Medieval Latin resicu), from Latin resecō (“cut off, loose, curtail”, verb), in the sense of that which is a danger to boating or shipping; or from Ancient Greek ῥιζικόν (rhizikón, “root, radical, hazard”).
A few dictionaries express more certainty. Collins says the Italian risco comes from Ancient Greek ῥίζα (rhíza, “cliff”) due to the hazards of sailing along rocky coasts. The American Heritage says it probably comes from Byzantine Greek ῥιζικό, ριζικό (rhizikó, rizikó, “sustenance obtained by a soldier through his own initiative, fortune”), from Arabic رِزْق (rizq, “sustenance, that which God allots”), from Classical Syriac ܪܘܙܝܩܐ ,ܪܙܩܐ (rezqā, rōzīqā, “daily ration”), from Middle Persian [script needed] (rōčig), from Middle Persian [script needed] (rōč, “day”), from Old Persian [script needed] (*raučah-), from Proto-Indo-European *lewk-.
Cognate with Spanish riesgo, Portuguese risco

der

ῥιζικό, ριζικό

ܪܘܙܝܩܐ ,ܪܙܩܐ

If there is a 25% chance of running over schedule, costing you a $100 out of your own pocket, that might be a risk you are willing to take. But if you have a 5% chance of running overschedule, knowing that there is a $10,000 penalty, you might be less willing to take that risk.

2002, Decisioneering Inc website, What is risk? read at http://www.decisioneering.com/risk-analysis.html on 14 May 2006

(uncountable, economics, business and engineering) The potential negative effect of an event, determined by multiplying the likelihood of the event occurring with its magnitude should it occur.

risiko

business etc.: potential (conventionally negative) effect of an event


poppet

(engineering) An upright support or guide fastened at the bottom only.


glitch

en-noun

glitch (countable and uncountable, plural glitches)

Probably from Yiddish גליטש (glitsh), from German glitschig (“slippy”), from glitschen (“to slide, glide, slip”) + -ig (“-y”). Related to gleiten (“glide”). Cognate with French glisser (“to slip, slide, skid”).
Popularized in the 1960s, by the US space program. Attested in 1962 by American astronaut John Glenn, in reference to spikes in electrical current.

Another term we adopted to describe some of our problems was "glitch." Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical circuit which takes place when the circuit suddenly has a new load put on it. You have probably noticed a dimming of lights in your home when you turn a switch or start the dryer or the television set.

1962, John Glenn, Into Orbit, London: Cassell:

(countable, informal, engineering) An unexpected behavior in an electrical signal, especially if the signal spontaneously returns to expected behavior after a period of time.


bracket

From earlier bragget, *bracket, from Middle English *braget, *braket (attested in braket nail), from Old French braguette (“the opening in the fore part of a pair of breeches, one's fly”), a diminutive of Old French brague (“knickers, britches”), from Old Occitan braga, from Latin brāca (“pants”), from Transalpine Gaulish *brāca, from Proto-Germanic *brāks, an early form of Proto-Germanic *brōks (“leggings, breeches, trousers”).

kllapë

generically any of “(”, “)”, “[”, “]”, “{”, “}”, “⟨”, “⟩”, “<”, “>”, etc.

To determine if your frame has this bottom bracket type, look for a notched and possibly knurled lockring on the left side (the side without the chainrings).

2005, Todd Downs, The Bicycling Guide to Complete Bicycle Maintenance & Repair for Road and Mountain bikes, →ISBN:

Not only does the attachment on the tooth surface (called a bracket) allow the tooth to be moved vertically or tilted, but also a force couple can be generated by the interaction between the bracket and an archwire running through the bracket.

2013, Laura Mitchell, An Introduction to Orthodontics, →ISBN, page 220:

(engineering) Any intermediate object that connects a smaller part to a larger part, the smaller part typically projecting sideways from the larger part.

mènsula

engineering: intermediate object that connects a smaller part to a larger part


offer

en-verb

offer (third-person singular simple present offers, present participle offering, simple past and past participle offered)

offers (present singular third-person)
offering (participle present)
offered (participle past)
offered (past)
offre (alternative)
offa (alternative pronunciation-spelling)

From Middle English offren, offrien. In the religious senses inherited from Old English offrian (“to offer, sacrifice, bring an oblation”); otherwise from Old French ofrir. Both ultimately from Latin offerō (“to present, bestow, bring before”, literally “to bring to”), from Latin ob + ferō (“bring, carry”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry, bear”), later reinforced by Old French offrir (“to offer”). Cognate with Old Frisian offria (“to offer”), Old Dutch offrōn (“to offer”), German opfern (“to offer”), Old Norse offra (“to offer”). More at ob-, bear.

der

The next stage is to remove and replace the top part of the right side lip, and offer the lid to the car to ensure all the shapes and gaps are okay.

2009, Roger Williams, Triumph TR2, 3, 3A, 4 & 4A:

(transitive, engineering) To place (something) in a position where it can be added to an existing mechanical assembly.


slip

From Middle English slippen, probably from Middle Low German slippen, from Old Saxon *slippian, from Proto-West Germanic *slippjan, from Proto-Germanic *slipjaną (“to glide”), an iterative form of *slīpaną (“to slip, slide”), from Proto-Indo-European *sleyb- (“slimy; to slide”). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *slewbʰ- (“slip, slide”), or related to Proto-Germanic *slībaną (“to split”); related to Old English slipor (“slippery”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian slipje (“to slip”), Dutch slippen (“to slip”), German Low German slippen, slupen (“to slip”), German schlüpfen (“to slip”).

there's many a slip between the cup and the lip

there's many a slip twixt the cup and the lip

(engineering) The motion of the centre of resistance of the float of a paddle wheel, or the blade of an oar, through the water horizontally, or the difference between a vessel's actual speed and the speed it would have if the propelling instrument acted upon a solid; also, the velocity, relatively to still water, of the backward current of water produced by the propeller.


medium

Borrowed from Latin medium, neuter of medius (“middle”), from Proto-Italic *meðjos, from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between”). Compare middle. Doublet of mid, medio, media, and meson.

(engineering) The materials used to finish a workpiece using a mass finishing or abrasive blasting process.

veicolo

painting: tool or materials used for painting or drawing


envelope

PIE word
 *h₁én
From French enveloppe. The engineering sense is derived from flight envelope. The verb is from the noun.

push the envelope

Few of the lads had ever been in combat and they knew little about the critical tolerances of fighter aircraft during violent maneuvers. They knew where the outside of the envelope was, but they didn't know about the part where you reached the outside and then stretched her a little . . .

1980, Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff, Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 350:

(engineering) The set of limitations within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively.

rajakäyrä

engineering: limits within which a technological system can perform safely and effectively


haze

en-noun

haze (usually uncountable, plural hazes)

* The earliest instances are of the latter part of the 17th century.
* Possibly back-formation from hazy.
* Compare Old Norse höss (“grey”), akin to Old English hasu (“gray”).

мътност

loss of transparency in a clear solid or liquid

Haze is listed as a percent value and, typically, is about 1% for meat film.

1998, Leonard I. Nass, Charles A. Heiberger, Encyclopedia of PVC, →ISBN, page 318:

(uncountable, engineering, packaging) The degree of cloudiness or turbidity in a clear glass or plastic, measured in percent.

himmeys

degree of cloudiness in a glass or plastic


cannon

cannon (countable and uncountable, plural cannons or (mainly UK) cannon)

cannons (plural)
cannon (UK mainly plural)

Attested from around 1400 as Middle English canon, canoun, from Old French canon, from Italian cannone, from Latin canna, from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”), from Sumerian 𒄀𒈾 (gi.na). Doublet of canyon. This spelling was not fixed until about 1800.

(engineering) A hollow cylindrical piece carried by a revolving shaft, on which it may, however, revolve independently.


carrier

From Middle English cariere, partly from carien + -ere, after Anglo-Norman carier, cariour, and partly directly from Anglo-Norman. By surface analysis, carry + -er.

но́сьбіт

person or object that carries someone or something else

(engineering) That which drives or carries.

A piece which communicates to an object in a lathe the motion of the faceplate; a lathe dog.

A spool holder or bobbin holder in a braiding machine.

A movable piece in magazine guns which transfers the cartridge to a position from which it can be thrust into the barrel.

planetary gear train
planetary gear train

A movable piece in a planetary gear train.

(especially automotive) Part of a differential gear assembly that holds gears and their bearings.


mode

From Old French mode (masculine), from Latin modus (“measure, due measure, rhythm, melody”). Doublet of modus.

tila

mathematics, physics: state of a system represented by an eigenfunction of that system

common-mode

differential-mode

normal mode of vibration

A particular means of accomplishing something.

(mathematics, physics) A state of a system that is represented by an eigenfunction of that system.

(especially engineering) A state related to signals or vibrations.


thread

threads (plural)
thred (alternative obsolete)

From Middle English thred, þred, threed, from Old English þrǣd, from Proto-Germanic *þrēduz, from Proto-Indo-European *treh₁-tu-s, from *terh₁- (“rub, twist”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Träid (“thread, wire”), West Frisian tried, Dutch draad, German Draht, Norwegian, Danish and Swedish tråd, and Icelandic þráður. Non-Germanic cognates include Albanian dredh (“twist, turn”). More at throw.


root

en-noun

root (countable and uncountable, plural roots)

→ Irish: rúta

PIE word
 *wréh₂ds
From Middle English rote, root, roote (“the underground part of a plant”), from late Old English rōt, from Old Norse rót (Icelandic rót), from Proto-Germanic *wrōts, from Proto-Indo-European *wréh₂ds (“root”); Doublet of wort, radish, and radix.

the love of money is the root of all evil

The root diameter is the minor diameter of an external thread and the major diameter of an internal one.

(engineering) The bottom of the thread of a threaded object.


duty

duty (countable and uncountable, plural duties)

right

antonym(s) of “that which one is obligated to do”

From Middle English duete, from Middle English dewe + Middle English -te. Equivalent to due + -ty.

(engineering) The efficiency of an engine in work done per unit of fuel; particularly, the number of pounds of water which a steam pumping engine can raise one foot by burning one bushel or hundredweight of coal.


cup

en-verb

cup (third-person singular simple present cups, present participle cupping, simple past and past participle cupped)

cups (present singular third-person)
cupping (participle present)
cupped (participle past)
cupped (past)

Inherited from Middle English cuppe, coppe, from the merger of Old English cuppe (“cup”) and Old English copp (“cup, vessel”).
Old English cuppe is a borrowing from Late Latin cuppa, itself of obscure origin, but probably from earlier Latin cūpa (“tub, cask”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewp- (“a hollow”). Old English copp, however, is from Proto-West Germanic *kopp (“round object, bowl, vessel, knoll, summit, crown of the head”), from Proto-Germanic *kuppaz, from Proto-Indo-European *gew- (“to bend, curve, arch”) (whence also obsolete English cop (“top, summit, crown of the head”), German Kopf (“top, head”)).
The Middle English word was further reinforced by Anglo-Norman cupe and Old French cope, coupe, from Latin cuppa. Compare also Saterland Frisian Kop (“cup”), West Frisian kop (“cup”), Dutch kop (“cup”), German Low German Koppke, Köppke (“cup”), Danish kop (“cup”), Swedish kopp (“cup”). Doublet of coupe, hive, and keeve.

unk

obscure

cog

to cup the end of a screw

(transitive, engineering) To make concave or in the form of a cup.


canard

Borrowed from French canard (“duck, hoax”).
etymology note
The primary English meaning of canard comes from the Medieval French expression “vendre un canard à moitié”, which literally means “to sell half a duck” or “to half-sell a duck”. This was perhaps the punch line to a joke. Eventually the punch line came to stand for the joke and then finally the word alone stood for the whole concept. The story may perhaps have gone like this: A duck seller is successful and content as the only duck seller on a street, selling his ducks for eight francs each. A new duck seller moves in across the street who steals all the business by offering his ducks for seven francs each. Then a price war ensues, back and forth, until the new duck seller is down to three francs for a duck. The original duck seller is beside himself with worry and frustration, but finally he puts up a big sign that says, “Two francs” and then in small print at the bottom “for half a duck.” In this way, to half-sell ducks may have come to mean tricking people with something that is literally true but misleading. It has this same metaphorical meaning in French. Now in English, it simply means anything that is deliberately misleading, a hoax.

(transport, engineering, by extension) Any small winglike structure on a vehicle, usually used for stabilization.


snug

From dialectal English snug (“tight, handsome”), perhaps from Old Norse snøggr, from Proto-Germanic *snawwuz (“short, quick, fast”). Compare Icelandic snöggur (“smooth”), Danish snög (“neat”), Swedish snygg (“handsome, nice-looking”).


chord

chords (plural)
cord (alternative dated)

Variant of cord, with spelling alteration due to Latin chorda (“cord”), ultimately from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “string of gut, the string of a lyre”). No relation to French accord (“chord”) and its derivations.

der

(engineering) A horizontal member of a truss.

(rail transport) A section of subsidiary railway track that interconnects two primary tracks that cross at different levels, to permit traffic to flow between them.


allowance

en-noun

allowance (countable and uncountable, plural allowances)

allowances (plural)
allowaunce (alternative obsolete)

→ Cebuano: alawans

→ Malay: élaun

From Middle English allouance, from Old French alouance.
Morphologically allow + -ance.

(engineering) A planned deviation between an exact dimension and a nominal or theoretical dimension.


knot

From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-West Germanic *knottō, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”).
See also Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte; also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur; also Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of knout, node, and nodus.
* (unit of speed): From the practice of counting the number of knots in the logline (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every ¹⁄₁₂₀ of a mile.

(engineering) A node (point at which the lines of a funicular machine meet from different angular directions)


trace

From Middle English trace, traas, from Old French trace (“an outline, track, trace”), from the verb (see below).

der

(engineering) A connecting bar or rod, pivoted at each end to the end of another piece, for transmitting motion, especially from one plane to another; specifically, such a piece in an organ stop action to transmit motion from the trundle to the lever actuating the stop slider.


tension

en-noun

tension (countable and uncountable, plural tensions)

desctree

→ Japanese: テンション (tenshon, “excitement”)
→ Korean: 텐션 (tensyeon)

Borrowed from Middle French tension, from Latin tēnsiō.

(physics, engineering) The state of an elastic object which is stretched in a way which increases its length.

(physics, engineering) A force transmitted through a rope, string, cable, or similar object (used with prepositions on, in, or of, e.g., "The tension in the cable is 1000 N", to convey that the same magnitude of force applies to objects attached to both ends).


drop

From Late Middle English droppe, Middle English drope (“small quantity of liquid; small or least amount of something; pendant jewel; dripping of a liquid; a shower; nasal flow, catarrh; speck, spot; blemish; disease causing spots on the skin”) [and other forms], from Old English dropa (“a drop”), from Proto-West Germanic *dropō (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewb- (“to crumble, grind”).

nb...

dropan, droupe, (Northern England) droipe

afval

small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own round shape through surface tension

piisk

very small quantity of liquid, or of anything

piisk

that which hangs or resembles a liquid globule

langemine

decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate

afgrond

The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.

(engineering) The distance of the axis of a shaft below the base of a hanger.


DAC

en-noun

DAC (countable and uncountable, plural DACs)

direct air capture
direct air capture#English

(uncountable, engineering) Abbreviation of direct air capture technology.


DAC

(engineering) Initialism of direct air capture.


CAD

CAD (countable and uncountable, plural CADs)

I'll wager a Dogic that before TwistyPuzzles.com turns 10 we'll be posting 3D CAD files that we can individually upload to FedExKinkos.com to have fabricated and have the resulting puzzle overnighted to us by 8am the next day.

2004 September 17, Joshua Bell, TwistyPuzzles.com:

computer-aided design
computer-aided design#English

(computing, engineering) Acronym of computer-aided design.


RF

RF (countable and uncountable, plural RFs)

If battalion staff were involved, we generally called the insertion an RF, Romeo Foxtrot, or Rat Fuck.

1997, Chuck Carlock, Firebirds: A Harrowing Firsthand Account of Helicopter Combat in Vietnam, Bantam, →ISBN, page 300:

Thinking they actually were supporting the demonstrators, I went up to them and asked why. “No, we're not supporting them. This is just an RF (short for “Rat Fuck”). We're keeping the money," they told me, laughing.

2003, Guy T. Saperstein, Civil Warrior: Memoirs of a Civil Rights Attorney:

(military, engineering, slang) Initialism of ratfuck (“dirty rick or act of sabotage or interference”).


puppet

From Middle English popet, probably from, though attested earlier than, Middle French poupette, diminutive of poupée (cf. also Medieval Latin *pupata), ultimately derived from Latin pupa (“doll, puppet; girl”). The nominal form first appears c. 1531, and the verbal form c. 1635. See also puppy.

(engineering) The upright support for the bearing of the spindle in a lathe.


mechanical

From Middle English mechanical, mechanicalle, mechanycalle, equivalent to mechanic + -al.

When the older courses had been separated from the literary curriculum eight years the civils, mechanicals and electricals had changed their relative positions four times.

1910, Michigan Alumnus - Volume 16, page 302:

A membership campaign was carried on early in the year and quite a number of the new mechanicals were reached, as well as a number of the old men who had slipped by the wayside.

1920, The Kansas Engineer - Issues 6-8, page 24:

"I don't need a clerk," he said. "What I need is more engineers, mechanicals, especially."

2012, Allan Young, The Return of the Prairie Rose, →ISBN, page 4:


bogey

bogeys (plural)
bogie (alternative)
bogy (alternative)

Probably related to or alteration of bogle, akin to or from a variant of Middle English bugge (“frightening specter, scarecrow”) (whence bug), itself of uncertain origin: perhaps from obsolete Welsh bwg (“ghost, hobgoblin”); compare Welsh bwgwl (“threat”, older “fear”), Irish bagairt (“threat”), but perhaps the root was borrowed from Germanic. Otherwise from Proto-Germanic *bugja- (“swollen up, thick”); compare Norwegian bugge (“big man”), dialectal Low German Bögge and Alemannic German Böögg (“goblin”, “snot”).
See also Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), Old English pūca (“goblin, mischievous spirit”), Icelandic púki Swedish puke (“small devil, spook”), whence obsolete English puck. Perhaps the Middle English and Welsh words come from a word related to buck and originally referred to a goat-shaped specter. Compare also booger.
The golf sense is from the devil as an imaginary player.

cog

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-bogie.wav

(engineering) A standard of performance set up as a mark to be aimed at in competition.


bogey

Clipping of bog-standard + -ey (diminutive suffix).

(UK, engineering) A bog-standard (representative) specimen taken from the center of production.


off

(older Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɔːf

From Middle English of, from Old English of, af, æf (“from, off, away”), from Proto-West Germanic *ab, from Proto-Germanic *ab (“from”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂epo (“from, off, back”). Doublet of of.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots of, af (“off, away”), West Frisian af, ôf (“off, away”), Dutch af (“off, from”), German Low German of (“off, from”), German ab (“off, from”), Danish af (“of, off”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk and Swedish av (“of, off”), Icelandic af (“of, off”), Gothic 𐌰𐍆 (af, “of, from”); and with Latin ab (“of, from, by”), Ancient Greek ἀπό (apó, “from”), and others.

-sta

used to indicate the location or direction of one thing relative to another

I'd like to re-order those printer cartridges, let's say 5-off.

Tantalum bar 6 off 3/8" Dia × 12" — Atom, Great Britain Atomic Energy Authority, 1972

samples submitted … 12 off Thermistors type 1K3A531 … — BSI test report for shock and vibration testing, 2000

Placed after a number (of products or parts, as if a unit), in commerce or engineering.


addendum

From the gerundive of Latin addere (“to add”).

(engineering) The height by which the tooth of a gear projects beyond (outside for external, or inside for internal) the standard pitch circle or pitch line.


Jim Crow

/ˌdʒɪm ˈkɹoʊ/

From the minstrel show song Jump Jim Crow, written in 1828 by Thomas D. Rice, the originator of blackface performance.

Two other machines exhibited by Whitworth… One was furnished with a reversing tool to plane both ways, and called, from its peculiar motion, a Jim Crow machine.

1852, Charles Tomlinson (editor), Cyclopædia of Useful Arts, Mechanical and Chemical, Manufactures, Mining, and Engineering, volume 1, section xiv “Machinery Exhibited”, page cxliii

He has considerably improved upon the planing machine, in his “Jim Crow” machine, so called because the cutter reverses itself and works both ways, and in fact adapts itself to any position to do its work.

1864, February 6, Once a Week, volume 10, article “Machine Tool-Makers”, page 188

The “Jim Crow” machine, which is Whitworth's patent, was new to some of the visitors. … But with a “Jim Crow” a cut is obtained both ways.

1872, August 2, The Building News and Engineering Journal, article “Railway Works at Longhedge”, volume 23, page 77

(engineering) A double-action planing tool invented by Joseph Whitworth, in which the blade ‘jumps’ to face the other way on the back-stroke.


cage

→ Zulu: ikheji

From Middle English cage, from Old French cage, from Latin cavea. Doublet of cadge and cavea and related to jail.

(engineering) A skeleton frame to limit the motion of a loose piece, such as a ball valve.


dent

From French dent, from Latin dēns, dentis (“tooth”). Doublet of dens and tooth.

(engineering) A tooth, as of a card, a gear wheel, etc.


monitor

monitors (plural)
monitour (alternative)

desc

→ Thai: มอนิเตอร์ (mɔɔ-ní-dtəə)

→ Thai: มอนิเตอร์ (mɔɔ-ní-dtəə)

From Latin monitor (“warner”), from perfect passive participle monitus (“warning”), from verb monere (“to warn, admonish, remind”). Warship sense is from USS Monitor, the first ship of this type.

(engineering) A tool holder, as for a lathe, shaped like a low turret, and capable of being revolved on a vertical pivot so as to bring several tools successively into position.


eccentric

eccentrics (plural)
eccentrick (alternative)
excentric (alternative)
excentrick (alternative)

From Middle French excentrique, from Medieval Latin eccentricus, from Ancient Greek ἔκκεντρος (ékkentros, “not having the earth as the center of an orbit”), from ἐκ (ek, “out”) + κέντρον (kéntron, “point”). Equivalent to ex- + -centric.

der

The position of the eccentrics which is necessary to make the pistons drive the engine forward must be directly the reverse of that which would cause them to drive the engine backwards. To be able, therefore, to reverse the motion of the engine, it would only be necessary to be able to reverse the position of the eccentrics, which may be accomplished by either of two expedients.

1840, Dionysius Lardner, The Steam Engine Explained and Illustrated, page 379:

Clavius goes on to use the large number of orbs in Fracostoro's theory as another reason to prefer the Ptolemaic system, then couples this issue with that of the relative capacity of the theories to save the phenomena, then finally reiterates the lack (as he sees it) of conflict between the Aristotelian natural philosophy and the eccentrics and epicycles of mathematical astronomy.

1994, James M. Lattis, Between Copernicus and Galileo: Christoph Clavius and the Collapse of Ptolemaic Cosmology, page 116:

The discussion that revolved around the admissibility of eccentrics and epicycles lied^([sic]) at the core of this theoretical discussion, and those who would not allow such concepts took the position that such eccentrics and epicycles would then introduce a center of heaviness, other than the Earth, around which celestial simple objects would then move.

2007, George Saliba, Islamic Science and the Making of the European Renaissance, page 120:

(engineering) A disk or wheel with its axis off centre, giving a reciprocating motion.


mecomtronics

Earliest 1975. Blend of mechanics + computers + telecommunications + electronics.

blend

[…] Mecomtronics Technology […]

1975, Engineers Joint Council Engineering Manpower Commission, American Association of Engineering Societies Engineering Manpower Commission, Engineering and Technology Enrollments, page 423:

2005. Fern A. Oram. Peterson's Two-Year Colleges, page 528,
Degree and certificate programs are offered in […] mechanical manufacturing technology, mecomtronics engineering technology, medical laboratory technology […]

(engineering, rare, nonstandard) The combined disciplines of mechanics, computers, telecommunications and electronics; robotics.


driver

desctree

→ Japanese: ドライバー (doraibā)
→ Hakka: 多拉把 (tô-lai-pá, tô-lai-pà, tò-lái-pà)
→ Hokkien: 螺賴把 /螺赖把 (lo͘-lài-bà)

→ Hokkien: 嚦峇 /呖峇 (lē-bā)

→ Scottish Gaelic: draibhear

From Middle English drivere, dryvere, dryvare, equivalent to drive + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Drieuwer (“driver”), Dutch drijver (“driver”), German Low German Driever (“driver”), German Treiber (“driver”).

The driver engages the follower intermittently, as dictated by the solenoid.

(engineering) Any driving element in any mechanism, which drives the driven element.


eigenvector

From eigen- + vector, a partial calque of German Eigenvektor.
The prefix eigen- (also used in eigenvalue) was first used in 1904, by David Hilbert, and was possibly inspired by a related usage by Hermann von Helmholtz.

(physics, engineering) A right eigenvector; given a matrix A, the eigenvector of the transformation "left-side multiplication by A."


BRB

To provide a more reliable source of energy dissipation, the concept of Buckling-Restrained Brace (BRB) was first developed in Japan in the early 1970s. Extensive research was since conducted in Japan and a variety of BRBs have been developed.

2014, Wai-Fah Chen, Lian Duan, Bridge Engineering Handbook, page 324:

Moreover, the outer casing is filled with concrete to ensure BRB components remain separated and prevent composite action. Then, BRB brace is submitted into a concentric braced frame, producing a BRBF system.

2018, Farzad Hejazi, Keyhan Karimzadeh, Analysis Procedure for Earthquake Resistant Structures, page 234:

The damper mega brace system adds an 8% supplemental damping that helps reduce both wind and seismic excitations. The system is made up of three braces in one (Fig. 6.31B): primary BRB brace and two external secondary BRB braces with viscous dampers at the ends (see Chapter 8, Section 8.1.10 for more details about this building).

2018, Alberto Lago, Dario Trabucco, Antony Wood, Damping Technologies for Tall Buildings, page 464:

buckling-restrained brace
w:buckling-restrained brace

(engineering) Initialism of buckling-restrained brace: a structural brace in a building or other structure, designed to allow the building to withstand cyclical lateral loadings.


engineering

en-noun

engineering (usually uncountable, plural engineerings)

/ˌɛn(d)ʒɪˈnɪə.ɹɪŋ/

/ˌɛn.d͡ʒɪˈnɪ(ə)ɹ.ɪŋ/

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

(uncountable) The application of mathematics and the physical sciences to the needs of humanity and the development of technology.

inxhinieri

application of science to the needs of humanity


kite

en-verb

kite (third-person singular simple present kites, present participle kiting, simple past and past participle kited)

kites (present singular third-person)
kiting (participle present)
kited (participle past)
kited (past)

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kūts (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot.
Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

This column action causes the tow line to kite either to the port or the starboard side, […]

1973 December 17, Clarence K. Chatten, Saul A. Eller, Reece Folb, Arthur P. Brisbane, Weather Resistant Segmented Fairing for a Tow Cable, US Patent 3,899,991 (PDF version), column 1:

(intransitive, engineering, nautical) To deflect sideways in the water.


frame

→ Korean: 프레임 (peureim)

→ Swahili: fremu

From Middle English frame (“profit, benefit, advantage; a structure composed according to a plan”), from the verb (above) and also from Old Norse frami (“advantage, fame, bravery, efficiency, privilege, honor”); and frame (“a framework or structure of any kind”) which is of uncertain origin. The latter is usually regarded as a derivative of former; however, compare the rare Anglo-Norman and Old French frame, fraine (“frame, framework”), itself of uncertain origin, which might be a borrowing from the English, from the Norse, or even possibly ultimately from Frankish *hramu (“frame”) related to Dutch raam (“window frame”).

der

a stocking frame; a lace frame; a spinning frame

(engineering, dated, chiefly UK) Any of certain machines built upon or within framework.


seat

From Middle English sete, from Old English sǣte, possibly from (or simply cognate with) Old Norse sæti (“seat”), both from Proto-Germanic *sētiją (“seat”), from Proto-Indo-European *sed- (“to sit”); compare Old English set (“seat”).
Sense 2 (“location or site”) is probably derived from Old English sǣte (“house”), which is related to Old High German sāza (“sedan, seat, domicile”).
Cognates
* Middle Dutch gesaete
* Old High German gisazi (modern German Gesäß)

cog

would you mind putting on your seat belt

The seat of the valve had become corroded.

(engineering) A part or surface on which another part or surface rests.


load

The sense of “burden” first arose in the 13th century as a secondary meaning of Middle English lode, loade, which had the main significance of “way, course, journey”, from Old English lād (“course, journey; way, street, waterway; leading, carrying; maintenance, support”) (ultimately from Proto-Germanic *laidō (“leading, way”), Proto-Indo-European *leyt- (“to go, go forth, die”).
Cognate with Middle Low German leide (“entourage, escort”), German Leite (“line, course, load”), Swedish led (“way, trail, line”), Icelandic leið (“way, course, route”)). As such, load is a doublet of lode, which has preserved the older meaning.
Most likely, the semantic extension of the Middle English substantive arose by conflation with the (etymologically unrelated) verb lade; however, Middle English lode occurs only as a substantive; the transitive verb load (“to charge with a load”) is recorded only in the 16th century (frequently in Shakespeare),
and (except for the participle laden) has largely supplanted lade in modern English.
For the meaning development from PIE, compare Latin carrus (whence carry) akin to currō.

cog

Each of the cross-members must withstand a tensile load of 1,000 newtons.

(engineering) The force exerted on a structural component such as a beam, girder, cable etc.

(engineering) A resistive force encountered by a prime mover when performing work.


wrist

From Middle English wrist, from Old English wrist, from Proto-West Germanic *wristu, from Proto-Germanic *wristuz (compare Old Frisian wrist, Low German Wrist, German Rist (“back of hand, instep, withers”), Swedish vrist), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist, turn”). More at writhe.

der

(engineering) A stud or pin which forms a journal.


fudge factor

We don't know exactly how much the load will weigh, so we'll add in a fudge factor to make sure we don't underestimate.

(idiomatic, engineering) A quantity introduced to compensate for uncertainty.


cure

From Middle English cure, borrowed from Old French cure (“care, cure, healing, cure of souls”), from Latin cura (“care, medical attendance, cure”). Displaced native Old English hǣlu, but survived as heal.

an ounce of prevention is better than an ounce of cure

an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure

an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

(engineering) A process whereby a material is caused to form permanent molecular linkages by exposure to chemicals, heat, pressure or weathering.

вулканиза́ция

process whereby a material is caused to form permanent molecular linkages by exposure to chemicals, heat, pressure and/or weathering


strake

From Middle English strake, from Old English *straca (> Anglo-Latin straca), from Proto-West Germanic *strakō, from Proto-Germanic *strakaz (“straight”). Akin to Old English streċċan (“to make straight, stretch”).

cog

(engineering) A shaped piece of wood used to level a bed or contour the shape of a mould, as for a bell


castellated

From Medieval Latin castellātus (“fortified, castellate”) + -ed (forming past participles). Equivalent to the past participle of castellate but attested earlier than other uses of the verb.

der

Castellated nuts are used throughout, with split pins.

1904, Alexander Bell Filson Young, chapter IV, in The Complete Motorist, page 74:

(engineering) Having grooves or recesses on an upper face.