Etymograph

English

re-engineer

From re- + engineer.

A compound of re- + engineer

Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

English re-

Proto-Indo-European *ǵenh₁- ‘to produce’

…

Old French engin ‘contraption, device; ingenuity’

Old French engigneor ‘engineer, designer’

Anglo-Norman enginour

Middle English enginour ‘military engineer; machine designer’

English engineer

Today it means

verb To modify the design of an existing system, organization, process or product in order to make it more effective, efficient or responsive.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “re-engineer”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / re-engineer

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