fabricatio

Forms

fabricātiō f (genitive fabricātiōnis); third declension^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Latin fabricō (“to fashion, build”) + -tiō.^[2][3] The verb comes from fabrica (“workshop; craft”), from faber (“craftsman”), which de Vaan reconstructs as Proto-Italic *fafro- and, with a question mark, Proto-Indo-European *dʰHbʰ-ro- (“craftsman”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cicero uses it twice:^[3] of the whole structure of the human body, tota hominis fabricatio, and of an artful shaping in a single word.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Vitruvius uses it for the making of buildings and for devices, and Apuleius for the making of a sigillum.^[2] Tertullian speaks of the gods who do not feel the insults of their own making,^[5][3] and the Vulgate uses it for working gold.^[6] In Medieval Latin it is forging and smith's work, coining and building,^[7][8] and also a crafty plan and a work of art.^[7] English took it as fabricacioun about 1500, for manufacture; the sense “falsehood” came in 1790.^[9]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it for the structure of the human body.^[2][10]
• c. 84–c. 25 BC – Vitruvius uses it for construction and for devices.^[2][10]
• c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of the gods' own making.^[3][10]
• 1279 – A British record uses it for a smith's work.^[8]
• c. 1500 – English borrows it as fabricacioun.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. Manufacture, construction.^[2][11]
2. The structure of something.^[2][6]
3. A device.^[2]
4. (Medieval Latin) Forging, smith's work; coining.^[8][7]
5. (Medieval Latin) A crafty plan.^[7]

Related words

• English fabrication

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ du Cange, Charles du Fresne, et al. (1883–1887), Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, augmented ed. by Léopold Favre, Niort: L. Favre
6. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b c Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
11. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson