Factitious - Definitions from Dictionary.com

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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

fac·ti·tious

Audio Help [fak-tish-uh

s] Pronunciation Key

–adjective

1.	not spontaneous or natural; artificial; contrived: factitious laughter; factitious enthusiasm.

2.	made; manufactured: a decoration of factitious flowers and leaves.

[Origin: 1640–50; < L factīcius made by art, artificial. See fact, -itious

]

—Related forms

fac·ti·tious·ly, adverb

fac·ti·tious·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Factitious

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

fac·ti·tious Audio Help (fāk-tĭsh'əs) Pronunciation Key
adj.

Produced artificially rather than by a natural process.
Lacking authenticity or genuineness; sham: speculators responsible for the factitious value of some stocks.

[From Latin factīcius, from factus, past participle of facere, to make; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]

fac·ti'tious·ly adv., fac·ti'tious·ness n.

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
factitious

1646, from L. factitius "artificial," from factus, pp. of facere "do" (cf. Fr. faire, Sp. hacer), from PIE base *dhe- "to put, to do" (cf. Skt. dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" O.Pers. ada "he made;" Hitt. dai- "to place;" Gk. tithenai "to put, set, place;" Lith. deti "to put;" Czech diti, Pol. dziac', Rus. det' "to hide," delat' "to do;" O.H.G. tuon, Ger. tun, O.S., O.E. don "to do;" O.Fris. dua, O.Swed. duon, Goth. gadeths "a doing;" O.N. dalidun "they did").

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

factitious
adjective
not produced by natural forces; "brokers created a factitious demand for stocks"

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Factitious

Fac*ti"tious\, a. [L. factitius, fr. facere to make. See Fact, and cf. Fetich.] Made by art, in distinction from what is produced by nature; artificial; sham; formed by, or adapted to, an artificial or conventional, in distinction from a natural, standard or rule; not natural; as, factitious cinnabar or jewels; a factitious taste. -- Fac-ti"tious*ly, adv. -- Fac*ti"tious-ness, n.

He acquires a factitious propensity, he forms an incorrigible habit, of desultory reading. --De Quincey.

Syn: Unnatural.

Usage: Factitious, Unnatural. Anything is unnatural when it departs in any way from its simple or normal state; it is factitious when it is wrought out or wrought up by labor and effort, as, a factitious excitement. An unnatural demand for any article of merchandise is one which exceeds the ordinary rate of consumption; a factitious demand is one created by active exertions for the purpose. An unnatural alarm is one greater than the occasion requires; a factitious alarm is one wrought up with care and effort.

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factitious

factitious was Word of the Day on April 6, 2000.

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