Latin Roots STRUCT and FAC/FECT: Build and Make

Use struct (build) and fac/fect (make or do) to read words about creating and causing.

The root 'struct' comes from 'struere', to build or pile up. A structure is something built; to construct is to build together; to destroy is related, but 'destruction' shows the root more clearly as un-building; instruct originally meant to build up knowledge in someone; infrastructure is the built framework underneath a city, such as roads and pipes. The root 'fac' (also spelled 'fect' and 'fic') comes from 'facere', to make or do.

A factory is where things are made; a fact was originally something done; to affect is to do something to; something effective gets things done; a manufactured product is made by hand (manu-), though today mostly by machines. Read this sentence with roots in mind: 'The new infrastructure had an immediate effect on the factory's output. ' Infrastructure: the built base underneath. Effect: what was made to happen. Factory: the place where things are made.

• 1STRUCT means build.
• 2FAC, FECT, and FIC mean make or do.
• 3One root can appear in several spellings.