[umanwizard]

Indeed. Engineer is a silly word to gatekeep. Its original literal meaning is just someone who builds engines (in the original, broader sense of “engines” which basically means “machines”). The appropriation of the term to mean formalized categories with certifications etc. came hundreds of years later.

[cwillu]

A word being fuzzy does not mean it has no meaning and that it can therefore be used for anything. A word being used in a particular (but fuzzy) way hundreds of years ago does not mean that it can't have a different (and fuzzy) meaning today. Yes, words drift, but the vague fuzzy notion that engineering meant 20 years ago still has value, and if the word has lost that meaning with no replacement, that's a problem.

[LtWorf]

I doubt that's the origin, since "ingegno" means cleverness in italian…

[danans]

I'm pretty sure the Italian word "ingegno" (like English "ingenious") comes from the same Latin root as "engine": ingenium, meaning "mind or intellect", with "engine" changing its pronunciation and meaning via medieval French.

[umanwizard]

Well instead of doubting, you can just look it up on wiktionary.

[LtWorf]

You could have done it yourself but you chose to post disinformation instead.