From Latin 'manus' (hand) + 'facere' (to make) — originally 'handmade,' now implies machine production, a total reversal.
To make or produce goods on a large scale using machinery or manual labor; also, to fabricate or invent something, especially a story or evidence.
From French 'manufacture,' from Medieval Latin 'manufactura' (a making by hand), composed of Latin 'manus' (hand) and 'factura' (a working), from 'facere' (to make, to do). The word originally meant literally 'made by hand' — the opposite of what it typically means today, where it implies machine production. This semantic reversal is one of the most ironic in English. The Latin
The word 'manufacture' originally meant 'made by hand' — from Latin 'manus' (hand) + 'factura' (making). The Industrial Revolution inverted its meaning entirely: today 'manufactured' almost always implies machine production, the exact opposite of handwork. This is one of English's most complete
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