-facient

American  

1. a combining form meaning “causing” or “inducing” that specified by the initial element.

   parturifacient; somnifacient.

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-facient British  

suffix

1. indicating a state or quality

   absorbefacient

   rubefacient

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Usage

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.

Etymology

Origin of -facient

< Latin , stem of faciēns , present participle of facere to make, do