factory English · revision 4598

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1560|origins=la facere}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfæk.tər.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|factorie]] (15th century),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from [[la-lat|factōrium|t=office for agents; oil press, mill]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Latin factor “doer, maker”, the source of [[factor]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) an agent noun from the past participle stem of facere “to do, make”,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) from [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|alt=*dhe-|t=to set, put]].^(Etymonline) Hoad considers it of mixed origin: the sense “trading station” is from Portuguese feitoria,^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and the modern sense ultimately from Late Latin factōrium “oil press”.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The office or position of a factor or estate manager, chiefly Scottish: 1560 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1550s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Scotland a factor was an estate manager or agent, and a factory was the place where he worked.^(Cresswell 2021) An establishment of merchants and agents trading in a foreign place is from 1582,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) as the trading stations of the East India Company.^(Cresswell 2021) A building with plant for manufacturing goods is from 1618,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) though until the Victorian era such a building was more usually called a [[manufactory]].^(Cresswell 2021) Slang for a prison or police station is from 1832,^(OED 1989) and ''factory farm'' is attested from 1890.^(Etymonline) In Yorkshire dialect the factory was the parish workhouse.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1560 – a factor's office.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1582 – a foreign trading post.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1618 – a building for manufacture.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1832 – a police station (slang).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1890 – ''factory farm''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A building or group of buildings where goods are manufactured; a [[plant]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(history)'' A trading station set up by merchants or agents in a foreign country.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A [[ship]] on which newly caught fish are processed.^(AHD)

+ # A place or institution that produces something in large numbers, often mechanically.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[factorylike]]

+ * [[subfactory]]

+ * [[factory ship]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fact]]

+ * [[faction]]

+ * [[factor]]

+ * [[factorial]]

+ * [[fashion]]

+ * [[manufactory]]

+ * [[manufacture]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}