Meanings
- neologismuncountableartificial intelligenceengineeringThe technique of formulating instructions (prompts) for a generative AI, in order that it produce the expected output.
Practice prompt engineering and measure your progress in time. Prompt engineering is a new skill that will take you to the next level of AI.
2022, Denis Rothman, Antonio Gulli, Transformers for Natural Language Processing […] , Packt Publishing Ltd, →ISBN, page 4263 more examples
PromptBase’s sixth-most-popular seller, a prompt creator from Spain who goes by Imagineer, told me that prompt engineering is still a side hustle, having earned them just over 800 euros since September.
2023 February 8, Charlie Warzel, “The Most Important Job Skill of This Century”, in The Atlantic, archived from the original on 06 Mar 2023The latter skill has become known as “prompt engineering”: the technique of framing one’s instructions in terms most clearly understood by the system, so it returns the results that most closely match expectations – or perhaps exceed them.
2023 March 16, James Bridle, “The stupidity of AI”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 26 Apr 2023Now that you’ve learnt the basics of prompt engineering, you should be able to use AI chatbots more efficiently and get the desired results.
2023 May 29, Zohaib Ahmed, “Want to make the most of ChatGPT? Try these prompt engineering basics”, in Indian Express, MumbaiSynonyms: prompt crafting, prompt design
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe technique of formulating instructions (prompts) for a generative AI, in order that it produce the expected output.
Origin
Likely coined in 2020 by AI researcher Gwern Branwen.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Finnish kehotesuunnittelu, kehotemuotoilu
- kehotesuunnitteluTranslations
- kehotemuotoiluTranslations
- syötesuunnitteluTranslations
Polish inżynieria podpowiedzi
- inżynieria podpowiedziTranslations
Spanish ingeniería en instrucciones, ingeniería de instrucción
- ingeniería en instruccionesTranslations
- ingeniería de instrucciónTranslations
Cite this entry
prompt engineering. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prompt%20engineering
“prompt engineering.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prompt%20engineering. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “prompt engineering,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/prompt%20engineering.
Source: prompt engineering on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.