It’s a fact that the Latin root word fact has ‘made’ many words in English; in point of fact, it even means ‘made’ or ‘done.’
What is a fact? It is simply something that has been ‘made’ already, so it is real. Another way of thinking about a fact is that it’s a ‘done’ deal. Facts used for science or in a court of law must have been ‘made’ already for them to be useful. Hence, something factual has a basis in reality, that is, it has been ‘made’ or ‘done.’
A chocolate factory is a place where chocolate is ‘made.’ A place where cars are manufactured is an industrial setting where they are ‘made.’ Originally, something that was manufactured was ‘made’ exclusively by hand, such as clothing or shoes on a mass scale.
An artifact is something ‘made’ by human skill or artistic know-how. Anthropologists are particularly interested in artifacts because they tell them things about the ancient cultures who ‘made’ these objects.
A masterpiece might cause a budding tailor great satisfaction because it shows that he has ‘done’ enough to earn the rank of a master tailor. As a matter of fact, a masterpiece was an excellent piece of work created by an apprentice that was the deciding factor in earning the rank of master, that is, it would either ‘make’ him a master, or ‘do’ him in.
Do you remember the Gorgon Medusa from Greek mythology? She was into petrifaction, or having people ‘made’ into stone by gazing upon them. This, of course, is the work of a malefactor, or one who ‘does’ evil to or ‘makes’ evil for another. A benefactor, on the other hand, only ‘does’ good things for someone else.
Have you ever undergone the process of stupefaction, or being ‘made’ so completely amazed by something that it renders you stupid, or speechless momentarily? Like now?
I hope that your newly gained factual knowledge of fact has ‘made’ serious inroads into your vocabulary satisfaction! ‘Done’!
- fact: thing ‘made’
- factual: pertaining to a thing ‘made’
- factory: place where things are ‘made’
- manufacture: ‘make’ by hand
- artifact: ‘made’ by human skill
- satisfaction: ‘done’ enough
- factor: ‘maker’
- petrifaction: ‘making’ stone
- malefactor: evil-‘doer’
- benefactor: good-‘doer’
- stupefaction: ‘making’ amazed