factotum

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 References

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

New Latin, “do everything”, from Latin fac, present singular imperative of faciō (“‘do, make’”), + tōtum (“‘everything’”); attested in English from 1566.

[edit] Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /fækˈtəʊ.təm/
• (US) IPA: /fækˈtoʊ.təm/
•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Noun

factotum (plural factotums)

1. (dated) A person having many diverse activities or responsibilities.
2. (dated) A general servant.
   • 1847, Herman Melville, Omoo, Chapter 73,

     I had almost forgotten Monee, the grinning old man who prepared our meal. […] He was Po-Po's factotum—cook, butler, and climber of the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees; and, added to all else, a mighty favourite with his mistress; with whom he would sit smoking and gossiping by the hour.

3. (idiomatic) Jack of all trades.

[edit] Translations

[edit] References

• factotum in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913