etymology · 1500s–1600s
manufacture
Drift #19 · May 31, 2026 · abstract
Meaning comparison
Today it means
to produce goods in large quantities, typically by machine
It used to mean (1500s–1600s)
to make by hand; handcraft
Etymology
'Manufacture' comes from Latin 'manu' (by hand) + 'factura' (making). When coined, it specifically described handmaking. The Industrial Revolution ironically stripped the word of its manual meaning: today 'manufactured' almost always implies machines, the direct opposite of its origin.
The Drift
How the meaning shifted over time
the drift
In Historical Context
The guild prized the manufactured blade above all others — shaped by a master's hands, filed and polished for forty days without the aid of any machine.
drift fact
'Manuscript' shares the same Latin root 'manu' — a manuscript is literally something written by hand.
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