I. ˈfabrik, -rēk noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle French fabrique, from fabriquer to fabricate, from Latin fabricari, from fabrica artisan's workshop, skillfully wrought object, building — more at forge
1.
a. : a product of building (as a house or ship)
four high houses … of the sort lane-dwellers call fabrics — Daniel Corkery
b. : underlying structure : framework
the work of restoring the fabric of Westminster Abbey — Conrad Voss Bark
the very fabric of daily life
whether the political fabric had the strength to withstand war — S.E.Morrison & H.S.Commager
2. obsolete : contrivance , device ; especially : a military engine
3. : an act of constructing : construction , erection ; specifically : the construction and maintenance of a church building
4.
a. : structural plan or style of construction
the whole complex fabric of flowers and floral organs that makes up the head of a composite plant
soil fabric (arrangement of the constituents of the soil in relation to each other) — L.D.Baver
b. : texture , quality — used chiefly of textiles
a linen cloth of fine silky fabric
c. : the form of the planchet of a medal or coin
a coin with thick fabric
5.
a. archaic : something made by man : artifact , product
the earliest fabric of the Venetian glassblowers
b. : cloth 1 a
c. : cloth of a particular kind
satin is a fabric with a smooth shining surface
or for a particular use
a sheer curtain fabric
d. : a material (as leather or woven wire) that in some respect resembles cloth
6. : a place devoted to manufacture : factory
the chief shapes manufactured in this fabric were bowls — V.G.Childe
7. : structural material
the more usual fabric was timber or coursed masonry
using a fabric of silken threads the spider builds her web
8. : the appearance or pattern that is produced by the shapes and arrangement of the crystal grains or of these with glass in a rock and that includes those orientation features which are not evident from grain shape alone
II. transitive verb
( fabricked ; fabricked ; fabricking ; fabrics )
Etymology: French fabriquer
obsolete : frame , build , construct