factory

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A building where goods are made, usually using machines.

   My uncle works in a car factory near the city.

2. 2
   noun

   The original state of a device as it left the maker.

   I reset my phone to its factory settings to fix the problem.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Factory is rooted in Latin facere, “to make or do,” and its sense “a place where things are made” probably came from Latin factorium, “oil press.” In the late 16th century it denoted a trading company’s foreign base or station, where a factor or agent worked. A sense resembling the modern one appeared in the early 17th century, although until the Victorian era a building where goods were produced was more usually called a manufactory.

Probably from factor + y, although in noun sense 1 (“a place where manufacturing takes place”) apparently influenced strongly by association with Classical Latin fact-, the past participial stem of faciō (“to make”); compare manufactory and Latin factōrium (“an oil press”). In noun sense 8 (“a trading establishment”), originally after Portuguese feitoria. In noun sense 9 (“an invoice or inventory”), probably after obsolete Dutch facture (“bill”); see facture. Compare Dutch factorij, Middle French factorie, Spanish factoría.

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External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary