ˈfakt(ə)rē, -ri noun
( -es )
Usage: often attributive
Etymology: Middle French factorie, from facteur factor + -erie -ery — more at factor
1. : an establishment (as a trading station) where factors or agents reside and transact business for their employers
2.
a. : a building or collection of buildings with facilities (as power-driven machinery) for the manufacture of goods often from raw materials : a place where work is done in the fabricating of goods, wares, or utensils
b. or factory ship : a ship equipped to process at sea whales or fishes brought to it by other ships
c. : a place that is a seat of some kind of production
the leaf is a factory for carbohydrate production
the vice factories of the slums
3. chiefly Scotland : the office or function of a factor : factorship
4. now dialect : unbleached muslin