Fabrication

How to spell fabrication

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce fabrication

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does fabrication mean?

1. nounA false statement or story that has been invented to deceive.
2. nounThe act of constructing or manufacturing something from raw materials.

Fabrication in a sentence

• The witness insisted that the entire account was a fabrication designed to protect the suspect.

• The fabrication of the steel frame took several weeks at the workshop.

• Her excuse for missing the meeting turned out to be a complete fabrication.

• Precise measurements are essential during the fabrication of each component.

Where does fabrication come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin fabricatio, meaning 'a constructing' or 'a making', which was formed from the verb fabricare, 'to build, frame, or manufacture'. At the heart of it lies fabrica, a craftsman's workshop, and behind that faber, the word for a skilled worker such as a smith or carpenter; so the original idea was quite literally something put together by hand. English took the word in through Old French in the fifteenth century, at first meaning the act of making or constructing something. Over time the sense split: alongside the honest workshop meaning of building things from materials, it picked up the figurative meaning of 'manufacturing' a story, in other words inventing a lie. The everyday word 'fabric' shares the very same root, which is a handy reminder that the spelling keeps the plain -fabric- before the -ation ending.

How the word is built

• fabric- (from Latin fabrica: workshop, craft)
• -ate (verb)
• -ion (noun of action/result)