manufactory

plural manufactories

1. archaicA manufacturing process; a particular industry or part of an industry.First known use 17th c.

   The manufactory of sugar is generally in German hands.

   1873, The Gentleman's Magazine and Historical Review, page 698

2. archaicA plant where something is manufactured; a factory.First known use 17th c.

   The furnaces of the manufactory must be fed.

   2001, Ian Irvine, Geomancer: A Tale of The Three Worlds (The Well of Echoes; 1), London: Orbit, published 2002, →ISBN, page 8

   3 more examples

   Smalt from the King of France's porcelain manufactory at Sevres fused into a mass, and resigned its colour.

   1817, The Philosophical Magazine and Journal, journal, Jan 1817

   We have just changed horses at Birmingham where I was two years ago and we visited the manufactories which are very curious.

   1832, Queen Victoria, journal, 2 Aug 1832

   Bradshaw is always ready to talk 'manufactories', and here he confides that the town [Basingstoke] "carried on a rather considerable business in druggets, which has since fallen off".

   2023 June 28, Stephen Roberts, “Bradshaw's Britain: Alton to Exeter”, in RAIL, number 986, page 57

1. not comparableobsoleteRelating to manufacture.First known use 18th–19th c.