software engineer vs engineer

software engineer and engineer both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
software engineer	Yes	No	No	No
engineer	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, engineer is a hypernym of software engineer; that is, engineer is a word with a broader meaning than software engineer:

software engineer: a person who designs and writes and tests computer programs
engineer: a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems

Other hypernyms of software engineer include applied scientist, technologist, computer user.

software engineer (noun)	engineer (noun)
a person who designs and writes and tests computer programs	a person who uses scientific knowledge to solve practical problems
	the operator of a railway locomotive

software engineer (verb)	engineer (verb)
	plan and direct (a complex undertaking)
	design as an engineer