Dictionary.com

-facient

Save This Word!

a combining form meaning “causing” or “inducing” that specified by the initial element: parturifacient; somnifacient.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?

Origin of -facient

<Latin , stem of faciēns, present participle of facere to make, do
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

WORDS THAT USE -FACIENT

What does -facient mean?

The combining form -facient is used like a suffix meaning “causing” or “inducing.” It is very occasionally used in scientific terms, especially in medicine.

The form -facient comes from Latin facere, meaning “to make” or “to do.” Facere is also the source of the stems fac-, fact-, fect-, and fic-, as in facility and faculty, fact and factor, affection and infect, and beneficial and sacrifice. Find out more by visiting all eight entries!

What are variants of -facient?

Though -facient has no variants, it is related to the combining forms -fex, -fic, -fication, -fy, and -ify. To learn more, check out our Words That Use articles for all five forms.

Examples of -facient

One example of a scientific term that uses the form -facient is immunifacient, “producing immunity.”

The immuni- portion of the word is a shortened form of immunity. As we have seen, -facient means “causing” or “inducing.” Immunifacient literally translates to “causing immunity.”

What are some words that use the combining form -facient?

What are some other forms that -facient may be commonly confused with?

Break it down!

Given the meaning of -facient, what does absorbefacient mean?

How to use -facient in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for -facient

-facient

suffix forming adjectives, suffix forming nouns
indicating a state or qualityabsorbefacient; rubefacient

Word Origin for -facient

from Latin facient-, faciēns, present participle of facere to do
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
FEEDBACK