14.3: §93. Compounds Related to FACERE
Of all the verbs used to form Latin compounds, none has been more fruitful than facere , which appears in English in such forms as pacific (< pac-i-fic-us ), pacify (< pac-i-fic-are ), and pacification (< pac-i-fic-at-io ). Here the first base is pax , pacis (“peace”), so that pacific means “peace-making.” The 1st conjugation verb pacificare is a regular denominative from the adjective pacificus ; the English spelling -fy is a legacy of the French -fier. English hasn’t many adjectives in -ific : terrific (< terror , “fright”), horrific (< horror , “shudder”), honorific (< honor , “honour”), beatific (< beatus , “blessed”), soporific (< sopor , “sleep”), prolific (< proles , “offspring”), and scientific (< scientia , “knowledge”). We could easily produce a longer list of words in -fy, most of which have corresponding abstract nouns in -fication . In the following sample, notice that the compound may begin with a noun or an adjective; notice also the CONNECTING VOWEL.
| LATIN NOUN or ADJ. | fic- COMPOUND | E DERIV. | ABSTRACT NOUN | E DERIV. |
| deus (“god”) | de-i-fic-are | deify | de-i-fic-at-io | deification |
| ramus (“branch”) | ram-i-fic-are | ramify | ram-i-fic-at-io | ramification |
| os , ossis (“bone”) | oss-i-fic-are | ossify | oss-i-fic-at-io |
ossification
|
| clarus (“clear”) | clar-i-fic-are | clarify | clar-i-fic-at-io | clarification |
| verus (“true”) | ver-i-fic-are | verify | ver-i-fic-at-io | verification |
| mollis (“soft”) | moll-i-fic-are | mollify | moll-i-fic-at-io | mollification |
Our list would include magnify, rectify, justify, stultify, ratify, nullify, modify, petrify, calcify, and personify. The last word has a comic-opera doublet. On capturing the maiden daughters of Major-General Stanley, W.S. Gilbert’s Pirates of Penzance sing out in glee:
You shall quickly be
parsonified
,
Conjugally matrimonified,
By a doctor of divinity
Who is located in this vicinity.
From Latin significare (E signify ) is derived the present participle significant . [1]
Several unusual English -fy verbs come from Latin compounds in -facere , – factus . Thus satisfy (L satis-facere , “to make enough”), satisfaction (L satis-fact-io ); putrefy (L putre-facere , “to make rotten”), putrefaction ; and liquefy (L lique-facere , “to make liquid”), liquefaction. [2] The present participle liquefacient joins others of its type in §82: rubefacient (“making red”), tumefacient (“making swollen”), and abortifacient (“producing abortion”)—a modern medical coinage.
Before fleeing the fertile field of facere , we must tip our caps to some Latin compound nouns: sacr-i-fic-ium (E sacrifice ), art-i-fic-ium (E artifice ), and or-i-fic-ium (E orifice ), “a mouth-making.” We can also salute bene-fact-or and its antonym male-fact-or , along with art-i-fact and manufacture (L man ū -fact -ura , “making by hand”). English has two related nouns benefit (< bene-fact-um ) and benefice (< bene-fic-ium ); the second is the source of beneficial (< bene-fic-i-alis )—cf. sacrificial and artificial .
-
If you remember the
-fic-
, you’ll never misspell this word as “signifigant”—a persistent student error. ↵
-
Though it seems a spelling quirk, the
-e-
in
putrefy
and
liquefy
is a 2nd conjugation stem vowel. ↵