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Words often have multiple meanings. The “engineering” in “prompt engineering“ is like in “social engineering”. It’s a secondary, related but distinct meaning.

For example, Google defines the second meaning of "engineering" as:

2. the action of working _artfully_ to bring something about. "if not for his shrewd engineering, the election would have been lost"

(https://www.google.com/search?q=define%3AEngineering)

Merriam-Webster has:

3 : calculated manipulation or direction (as of behavior), giving the example of “social engineering”

(https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/engineering)

Random House has:

3. skillful or artful contrivance; maneuvering

(https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/enginee...)

Webster's has:

The act of maneuvering or managing.

(https://www.yourdictionary.com/engineering)

Look up “engineering” in almost any dictionary, and it will list something along those lines as one of the meanings of the word. It is a well-established, nontechnical meaning of “engineering”.





While that may be true, I have a hard time believing that's relevant to the intent of people putting "engineer" into every job title out there.

The same is true of the word 'designer', it's shorthand.

Is this reply not also reply engineering?

Just scanning through I swear I saw the word mathturbation

this

the "engineering means working with engines" gibberish at the bottom is simply dishonest at best

"engineering" means "it's not guessing game"


Thinking through to French and Latin, Engineering means “doing something that is ingenious, and took ingenuity”.

Your posted definitions contradict your conclusion - I would argue there is nothing calculated (as parent poster said, there is no calculation, it just trying and watching what works), artful or skillful (because it's so random, what skill is there to develop?) about "prompt engineering".



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