Trivia Time

The manu in manufacture comes from a Latin word for what?

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manufacture

American  

[man-yuh-fak-cher, man-uh-] / ˌmæn jəˈfæk tʃər, ˌmæn ə- /

noun

• manufactures
  plural

1. 

   the making of goods or wares by manual labor or by machinery, especially on a large scale.

   the manufacture of television sets.

2. the making or producing of anything; generation.

   the manufacture of body cells.

3. the thing or material manufactured; product.

   Plastic is an important manufacture.

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verb (used with object)

• manufactures,
  present (3rd person singular)
• manufactured,
  past participle,  past
• manufacturing
  present participle

1. to make or produce by hand or machinery, especially on a large scale.

   Synonyms:

   build

2. to work up (material) into form for use.

   to manufacture cotton.

3. to invent fictitiously; fabricate; concoct.

   to manufacture an account of the incident.

4. to produce in a mechanical way without inspiration or originality.

   to manufacture a daily quota of poetry.

manufacture British  

/ ˌmænjʊˈfæktʃə /

verb

1. to process or make (a product) from a raw material, esp as a large-scale operation using machinery

2. (tr) to invent or concoct

   to manufacture an excuse

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noun

1. the production of goods, esp by industrial processes

2. a manufactured product

3. the creation or production of anything

Synonym Usage

Manufacture, assemble, fabricate apply to processes in industry. Manufacture, originally to make by hand, now means to make by machine or by industrial process: to manufacture rubber tires. To assemble is to fit together the manufactured parts of something mechanical: to assemble an automobile. To fabricate is to construct or build by fitting standardized parts together: to fabricate houses. See also make ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• manufacturing
  noun
• nonmanufacture
  noun
• nonmanufacturing
  noun
• semimanufacturing
  noun
• premanufacture
  verb (used with object)
• manufacturable
  adjective
• manufactural
  adjective
• nonmanufactured
  adjective
• semimanufactured
  adjective
• unmanufacturable
  adjective
• unmanufactured
  adjective
• well-manufactured
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• manufactures
  plural

Participles

• manufacturing
  present
• manufactured
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• manufacture
  simple
• manufactures
  simple
• have manufactured
  perfect
• has manufactured
  perfect
• am manufacturing
  progressive
• are manufacturing
  progressive
• is manufacturing
  progressive
• have been manufacturing
  perfect progressive
• has been manufacturing
  perfect progressive

Past

• manufactured
  simple
• had manufactured
  perfect
• was manufacturing
  progressive
• were manufacturing
  progressive
• had been manufacturing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will manufacture
  simple
• will have manufactured
  perfect
• will be manufacturing
  progressive
• will have been manufacturing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of manufacture

First recorded in 1560–70; from Middle French manufacture “the action or process of making; a factory,” equivalent to Latin manū “by hand”, ablative singular of manus “hand” + Middle French facture “making, construction” (from Late Latin factūra “action of creating, a creation, piece of handiwork,” from Latin factūra “act of fashioning; metal working,” a derivative of facere “to make, do”); the verb is derivative of the noun

Explanation

To manufacture something, is to make or construct it, usually for industry and sale. Unless you make all your own clothes, a company probably had to manufacture them. Manufacture is generally associated with industry and factories. Henry Ford, for instance, revolutionized industry by using assembly lines to manufacture Model Ts. But manufacture can also be used for the natural word, like bees that manufacture honey. Occasionally it use used more generally to mean to construct by putting parts together. And in a pinch, you can manufacture — or make — the truth, which is a creative way to say “lie.”

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

manufacture manufactures manufactured manufacturing

Lactones are essential starting materials for biodegradable plastics and polyurethanes, while epoxides are used to manufacture adhesives, protective coatings, and epoxy resins found in electronic materials.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

Employees shouldn’t have to manufacture delight on demand while working short-staffed shifts for inadequate pay, fielding customer complaints about things outside their control.

From Salon ● Oct. 11, 2026

West Midlands Combined Authority said the money would be match-funded by Longbow, which plans to manufacture more than 10,000 cars a year.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

"Their discoveries have been decisive for chemists who design reactions for the manufacture of pharmaceuticals," the jury said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026

She realized that the manufacture of herself to please Imogen—it was like running, really.

From "Genuine Fraud" by E. Lockhart

Airbus designs and manufactures wings for all its commercial aircraft at its Broughton site in North Wales.

From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026

The Fed will hike regardless, because credibility is the only commodity a central bank manufactures, and the bond market is checking the label.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

What got far less attention was the story about the owner of an Ohio factory that manufactures parts for cars and trucks, who told the New York Times about his Haitian workers.

From Salon ● Sep. 3, 2026

However, according to local authorities, Zheng'an as a whole manufactures 2.5 million a year, living up to the name plastered on banners across town: "Capital of Guitars, City of Music".

From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026

“Outside peoples already concede our material greatness and that we are well nigh supreme in manufactures and commerce,” he wrote.

From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson

To make this possible, the researchers developed a system built around a special crystal containing thorium atoms, manufactured at TU Wien.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2026

Fans have been warned against buying fakes, with police saying, external they can be "manufactured without regard for safety standards or workers' rights" and Trading Standards warning that "counterfeiters have no morals and no standards".

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

They’ve been hiring more people to build data centers and to supply the materials and manufactured goods used in construction.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 3, 2026

“A homemade ballistic missile made in record time under fire was used on the battlefield,” said Iryna Terekh, the chief executive of Fire Point, the company that manufactured the missile.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

The Aztecs required tribute in the form of military service, physical labor, crops, and manufactured products.

From "An Indigenous People’s History of the United States" by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

President Trump touts his ability to attract billions of dollars in investment to bring manufacturing back to the U.S.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 12, 2026

In a statement to MPs, Burnham also warned the EU's Made In Europe plans posed "a risk to UK manufacturing" and said he was in talks to get "an arrangement" that worked for the UK.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026

Its relatively simple molecular structure and compatibility with established manufacturing processes could also support consistent product quality, reliable supplies, and large-scale production.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 12, 2026

That one extra hit — not only getting something brewing, but following through, manufacturing a second run with a sacrifice bunt and a timely single — was the difference.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026

To make good on this offer, the automobile manufacturing plants were called into service.

From "A Few Red Drops: The Chicago Race Riot of 1919" by Claire Hartfield

Related Words

• assemble
• complete
• construct
• create
• fabricate
• mass-produce
• synthesize