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fac/fect

fæk / fekt

A factory, an effect and perfection are all one making

The picture Hands making something that did not exist a moment ago. What comes out of the making is an effect; making it all the way to the end is perfect. Made all the way through is per-fect; left half-made is a de-fect.

Word roots

Where the picture shows up in fac/fect

  1. The place where things get made

    She works at a car factory.

    ʃiː wɜːrks æt ə kɑːr ˈfæktəri

    She works at a car factory.

    A long bench: material goes in one end, a car comes out the other.

  2. What the making put out

    The medicine had no effect.

    ðə ˈmedsn hæd noʊ ɪˈfekt

    The medicine did nothing.

    A pill swallowed, and nothing at all coming out of the body afterward.

    ef (out) + fect (make): what is made and comes out is the effect.

  3. Making something happen to someone

    The noise affects my sleep.

    ðə nɔɪz əˈfekts maɪ sliːp

    The noise keeps me from sleeping.

    Noise from the next room crossing over and turning you in bed all night.

  4. Made all the way through

    Your English is perfect.

    jʊr ˈɪŋɡlɪʃ ɪz ˈpɜːrfɪkt

    Your English is perfect.

    The last piece pushed in, with no gap left anywhere.

    per (all the way) + fect (make): made to the end, nothing left to touch.

  5. Made by hand, at scale

    We manufacture phone parts here.

    wiː ˌmænjuˈfæktʃər foʊn pɑːrts hɪr

    We make phone parts here.

    The same part stamped out again and again by hand.

All of it in one picture

fac and fect are hands making a thing into existence. The place of making is a factory; what the making puts out is an effect; making something happen inside another person is to affect them. Made all the way to the end is perfect; made over and over by hand is manufacture. So a fac or fect word always leaves one question standing: what came out of the making?

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