fabric English · revision 7925

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1483|origins=la fabrica}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈfæb.ɹɪk/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|fabrique]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from Latin [[m|la|fabrica|t=workshop; a skilful production, structure]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) from faber, an artisan in hard materials,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) from Proto-Italic *fafro-, from PIE *dʰabʰ-, perhaps meaning craftsman.^(Etymonline) It is a doublet of [[forge]], a smithy.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A building, an edifice: 1483, in Caxton's ''Golden Legend''; obsolete.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Word Origins traces the development from a building to a machine or appliance (early 17th century) and something made, which led to the main current sense, cloth.^(Cresswell 2021) A contrivance or engine is an obsolete sense of 1596.^(OED 1989) A thing made, a structure of any kind, is from the 1630s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and figuratively, as ''the fabric of society'', from before 1637.^(OED 1989) A manufactured material is first recorded in 1753,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and a textile in 1791.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Fabricate'', to make, is from about 1450, and to invent falsely from the late 18th century.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) In Banffshire Scots a fabric was a big, clumsy person or animal.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1483 – a building.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1596 – an engine (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1630s – a structure.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1753 – a manufactured material.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1791 – a textile.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Cloth made by weaving, knitting or felting [[fibre|alt=fibres]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The texture or quality of such cloth.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The basic structure of something: ''the fabric of society''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The walls, floor and roof of a [[building]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[fabric softener]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fabricate]]

+ * [[fabrication]]

+ * [[forge]]

+ * [[prefabricate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}