facture

noun

fac·​ture ˈfak-chər How to pronounce facture (audio)
: the manner in which something (such as a painting) is made

Examples of facture in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Often created through a long, laborious procedure from organic materials such as hemp, copper, wood, and even entire trees, her careful, cogent works possess a grounding evidence of their facture that sets them apart from the typically sleek, industrial-looking work of her Minimalist peers. News Desk, Artforum, 5 Sep. 2024 The impression of freshness and immediacy is reinforced by the paint’s facture. Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2021 In art, the inefficiencies of hand facture were understood as essential markers of meaning. Susan Tallman, The New York Review of Books, 19 Aug. 2021 These sensuous aspects — the painting’s facture, the colors’ intensity — are as important, in their way, as Mondrian’s organization of form and space. Washington Post, 12 May 2021 Her face, while more contoured than Eva’s, still quivers with facture, the tenderness of coming-to-be embodied in Kiely’s additions, erasures, and smudges. Cate McQuaid, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Mar. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Middle English, "manner of making, shape," borrowed from Anglo-French, borrowed from Latin factūra "working (of metal), make, fashion," from factus (past participle of facere "to make, do") + -ūra -ure — more at fact

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of facture was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near facture

Cite this Entry

“Facture.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/facture. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.

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