different between engage vs propose

English

Alternative forms

• ingage (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English engagen, from Old French engagier (“to pledge, engage”), from Frankish *anwadj?n (“to pledge”), from Proto-Germanic *an-, *andi- + Proto-Germanic *wadj?n? (“to pledge, secure”), from Proto-Germanic *wadj? (“pledge, guarantee”), from Proto-Indo-European *wed?- (“to pledge, redeem a pledge; guarantee, bail”), equivalent to en- +? gage. Cognate with Old English anwedd (“pledge, security”), Old English weddian (“to engage, covenant, undertake”), German wetten (“to bet, wager”), Icelandic veðja (“to wager”). More at wed.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?n??e?d?/, /?n??e?d?/
• Rhymes: -e?d?

Verb

engage (third-person singular simple present engages, present participle engaging, simple past and past participle engaged)

1. (heading, transitive) To interact socially.
   1. To engross or hold the attention of; to keep busy or occupied.
   2. To draw into conversation.

      • the difficult task of engaging him in conversation

   3. To attract, to please; (archaic) to fascinate or win over (someone).

      • Good nature engages everybody to him.

2. (heading) To interact antagonistically.
   1. (transitive) To enter into conflict with (an enemy).
      • 1698-1699, Edmund Ludlow, Memoirs

        a favourable opportunity of engaging the enemy

   2. (intransitive) To enter into battle.
3. (heading) To interact contractually.
   1. (transitive) To arrange to employ or use (a worker, a space, etc.).
   2. (intransitive) To guarantee or promise (to do something).
   3. (transitive) To bind through legal or moral obligation (to do something, especially to marry) (usually in passive).

   4. (obsolete, transitive) To pledge, pawn (one's property); to put (something) at risk or on the line; to mortgage (houses, land).
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vii:

        Thou that doest liue in later times, must wage / Thy workes for wealth, and life for gold engage.

4. (heading) To interact mechanically.
   1. To mesh or interlock (of machinery, especially a clutch).
   2. (engineering, transitive) To come into gear with.

      The teeth of one cogwheel engage those of another.

5. (intransitive) To enter into (an activity), to participate (construed with in).

   • “ […] We are engaged in a great work, a treatise on our river fortifications, perhaps? But since when did army officers afford the luxury of amanuenses in this simple republic? […]”

6. (transitive, obsolete) To entangle.

Antonyms

• (to cause to mesh or interlock): disengage

Derived terms

• engagement
• disengage
• disengagement

Translations

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??.?a?/

Verb

engage

1. first-person singular present indicative of engager
2. third-person singular present indicative of engager
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of engager
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of engager
5. second-person singular imperative of engager

Anagrams

• gagnée

English

Etymology

From Middle English proposen, from Anglo-Norman proposer (verb), propos (noun), Middle French proposer (verb) , propos (noun), from Latin pr?p?n?, pr?p?n?re, with conjugation altered based on poser. Doublet of propound.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /p???p??z/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /p???po?z/
• Rhymes: -??z

Verb

propose (third-person singular simple present proposes, present participle proposing, simple past and past participle proposed)

1. (transitive) To suggest a plan, course of action, etc.

   Synonyms: put forth, suggest, (rare) forthput

   • 2019, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     President Moon Jae-in proposed the plan this week during a meeting with government officials, his spokesman said.

2. (intransitive, sometimes followed by to) To ask for a person's hand in marriage.

3. (transitive) To intend.
   • 1859, John Gorham Palfrey, History of New England, Preface (Google preview):

     I propose to relate, in several volumes, the history of the people of New England.
4. (obsolete) To talk; to converse.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 3 Scene 1:

     HERO. Good Margaret, run thee to the parlour;

     There shalt thou find my cousin Beatrice

     Proposing with the prince and Claudio

5. (obsolete) To set forth.
   • 1616, George Chapman (translator), Homer's Iliad, book 11:

     . . . so weighty was the cup,

     That being propos'd brimful of wine, one scarce could lift it up.

Usage notes

• In use 1, this is sometimes a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing).
• In use 3, this is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive.
• For more information, see Appendix:English catenative verbs
• Compared to to suggest, to propose is more deliberate and definite. To suggest is merely to mention, while to propose is to have a definite plan and intention.

Derived terms

• proposal
• proposement

Related terms

• proponent
• proposition

Translations

Noun

propose (plural proposes)

1. (obsolete) An objective or aim.

Anagrams

• opposer, poopers

French

Verb

propose

1. inflection of proposer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Anagrams

• opposer

Italian

Verb

propose

1. third-person indicative past historic of proporre

Anagrams

• propeso