Semantics: Motor vs. Engine

I love splitting hairs and generally being a huge anorak. However, I just might have gotten out anoraked recently on another forum. I say it's an engine. This dude states:

Fellow Forum-goer said: I get so tired of hearing people say that. It's dead wrong, I don't care where you heard it. Let me lay it out for you etymologically. Motor: Derived from the latin root which basically means "to move" or "to be in motion" A motor is an object that imparts motion. Simple as that. ANYTHING that imparts motion to something else is a motor. Rubber bands in toy cars are motors. Electric motors are motors. Rocket motors are motors. Motors make things move. An engine is an object that produces energy output from energy input. A more popular definition is that an engine takes chemical or thermal energy and converts it to mechanical energy, but that's a bit too narrow...engines can deal with other forms of energy as well. Internal combustion engines are engines AND motors. They take chemical energy, convert it to thermal energy, then to mechanical, and they use that energy to make cars move.

Is he correct? I mean, I've always been taught that saying "motor" for the engine is like saying "rim" for wheel and "clip" for magazine.

Often-wrong wiki, and several dictionaries say "engine" is correct.

What's the deal?

I've never heard that argument and it's a convincing one. I don't know. I agree with you though. My buddy got so mad once when we argued about a "boat motor." He had never heard it called an engine so he refused to accept that it was an engine. I know I was right on that one, but maybe it has an engine AND a motor? I guess I have used the verb as in "to motor" down the parkway...

Hydraulic motor Electric motor Gasoline engine Diesel engine

Thats how I have always called them.

After a little research myself I can tell the guy did his research on the Myriam Webster site. It follows his argument directly. According to it, the internal combustion engine comes before the electric version in the definitions of "motor."

1mo·tor
Pronunciation: \ˈmō-tər\ Function: noun Etymology: Latin, from movēre to move Date: 1586 1: one that imparts motion; specifically : prime mover 2: any of various power units that develop energy or impart motion: as a: a small compact engine b: internal combustion engine; especially : a gasoline engine c: a rotating machine that transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy 3: motor vehicle; especially : automobile

Interesting! You were definitely out-Anoraked. American Heritage dictionary also lists internal combustion engines as a motor.

(Motor: 1. Something, such as a machine or an engine, that produces or imparts motion. 2. A device that converts any form of energy into mechanical energy, especially an internal-combustion engine or an arrangement of coils and magnets that converts electric current into mechanical power.)

So he's right. Engine or motor is correct.

For the sake of clarity we refer to use engine for gas/diesel internal combustion engine and motor for a copper wound electrically powered device.

An engine is an object that produces energy output from energy input.

So the transfer case on my 4WD is an engine?

untill this gets straightened out I shall continue to refer to the one in my miata as "the buzzer"

914Driver wrote:

An engine is an object that produces energy output from energy input.

So the transfer case on my 4WD is an engine?

No. Your transfer case simply transfers energy from an input shaft to an output shaft or two without contributing anything of its own. Except drag. There is no change from electrical energy to mechanical energy as there is in an electric motor, or from chemical energy to mechanical energy as there is in an internal combustion unit.

93gsxturbo wrote: Hydraulic motor Electric motor Gasoline engine Diesel engine Thats how I have always called them.

That is how I lern'd em But what about: Air Motor? Could be turbine or reciprocating

He better call up General Motors and let them know they've been doing it all wrong for the last 100 years.

Some people get all bent out of shape by the stupidest things. 'Engine' is probably more correct, but it doesn't really matter.

Most of the really smart engineer types I've heard discuss the subject tend to say that the terms are largely interchangeable and the people who argue over the use of each are pathetic and sad and probably don't really understand the principles that they're so fervently arguing over (present company excepted...).

Editorially, for the sake of clarity and consistency, we tend to refer to an engine when we're talking about something that expends a raw resource and turns it into motion (like a combustion engine burning gasoline) and we refer to a motor as something that takes a processed power source and turns it into motion (like an electric or air-powered motor).

Now I'm gonna go drink a pop and pay my hydro bill while I sit on the chesterfield.

jg

JG just pseudo-pwned me!

Let me lay it out for you etymologically.

I'm pretty sure fellow forum-goer just plagiarized Eazy-E.

I always point to:

Motorsports Motorcycles Motorboats Department of Motor Vehicles

Clearly, the terms are interchangeable, although I think nderwater's venn diagram probably explains it the best. All engines are motors but not all motors are engines.

Also, let's face it: Night Ranger wouldn't have been nearly as successful.

I'm pretty sure fellow forum-goer just plagiarized Eazy-E.

Haven't we all?

I know in the old days, cars were called "motors".

Hey, how's Grassroots Enginesports sound?

My opinion?

An engine operates on a combustible fuel (rules out the rubber band) and is most commonly used to propel vehicles, ships/boats, and aircraft.

A motor is what is used to move small parts of your car, for example, the windows and locks. Whould you say the windows had been moved up and down by an engine or a motor? Another example: the compressor in your refrigerator...is it powered by an engine or a motor.

Some hybrid vehicles have engines and motors to propel them, gasoline powered vehicles have an ENGINE. Seems simple to me.

The problem is that engines are motors too.

integraguy wrote: My opinion? An engine operates on a combustible fuel (rules out the rubber band) and is most commonly used to propel vehicles, ships/boats, and aircraft. A motor is what is used to move small parts of your car, for example, the windows and locks. Whould you say the windows had been moved up and down by an engine or a motor? Another example: the compressor in your refrigerator...is it powered by an engine or a motor. Some hybrid vehicles have engines and motors to propel them, gasoline powered vehicles have an ENGINE. Seems simple to me.

So scale is the deciding factor, seems a bit simplistic.

I refer you to my and JG's posts.

We both write for a living.

/thread

"So scale is the deciding factor...."

Gee, I'm amazed anyone would come to that conclusion from what I posted. Until you find a refrigerator with a compressor powered by gasoline, or wood, or ? a refrigerator's compressor will always be a motor. Same with the mechanism for powering the windows and locks on your car. As a previous poster said, if it's powered by electrical current, it's pretty much a motor, by a combustible fuel...it's an engine. A Prius is powered by a gasoline engine and an electric MOTOR. I doubt anyone, even a Toyota engineer, will tell you the Prius has 2 engines. (Or is that 6 engines? 4 more for the electric windows.)

And again, like always, the above is just my opinion...others are free to agree or disagree.

I think what he was getting at is we were trying to figure out fact rather than opinion. Well, as close as you can get when discussing a definition developed by people. As defined, engine and motor are pretty much interchangeable. Your personal distinction between the two isn't "textbook," as they say. It's just personal preference.

This thread makes me want to scream or drown a bag of kittens.

bluej wrote: untill this gets straightened out I shall continue to refer to the one in my miata as "the buzzer"

Wow, it never takes long for a miata to be brought up