"factory" in seven languages
Meaningfactory
Spanish
/ˈfabɾika/
fem.learned
Its inherited doublet is fragua 'forge'.
French
/yzin/
fem.other source · Latin OFFICĪNA 'workshop', via northern Old French wisine
Italian
/ˈfabbrika/
fem.inherited
Portuguese
/ˈfabɾikɐ/
fem.learned
Romanian
/ˈfabrikə/
fem.borrowed · Italian fabbrica / German Fabrik
Catalan
/ˈfabɾikə/
fem.learned
English
/ˈfæktəɹi/
other source · Late Latin factōrium
'Fabric' is the shared word.
Watch out: false friends
fattoria (Italian) means “farm” · factory (English) means “manufacturing plant”
Both from Latin FACTOR 'maker, doer'. An Italian fattore was a farm steward, so his fattoria the farm; an English factor was a trading agent, and his factory first a trading post.
The Latin ancestor
FABRICAM‘workshop, craft (from FABER 'smith')’
All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.
The story
One Latin word, two Spanish fates: learned fábrica (factory) and inherited fragua (forge). French usine is a worn-down OFFICĪNA — the same word as Spanish oficina.
English relatives: fabric, fabricate
Learn it
In a sentence
- esLa fábrica cierra en agosto.
- frL'usine ferme en août.
- itLa fabbrica chiude ad agosto.
- ptA fábrica fecha em agosto.
- roFabrica se închide în august.
- caLa fàbrica tanca a l'agost.
- enThe factory closes in August.