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Factory vs Firm - What's the difference?

factory | firm |

As nouns the difference between factory and firm

is that factory is a trading establishment, especially set up by merchants working in a foreign country while firm is a business partnership; the name under which it trades.

As an adjective firm is

steadfast, secure, hard (in position.

As a verb firm is

to make firm or strong; fix securely.

factory

English

Noun

(factories)
  • (obsolete) A trading establishment, especially set up by merchants working in a foreign country.
  • The position or state of being a factor.
  • A building or other place where manufacturing takes place.
  • * , chapter=7
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=[…] St.?Bede's at this period of its history was perhaps the poorest and most miserable parish in the East End of London. Close-packed, crushed by the buttressed height of the railway viaduct, rendered airless by huge walls of factories , it at once banished lively interest from a stranger's mind and left only a dull oppression of the spirit.}}
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
  • , chapter=7 citation , passage=The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.}}
  • A device which produces or manufactures something.
  • (programming) In a computer program or library, a function, method, etc. which creates an object.
  • * 2010 , Sayed Ibrahim Hashimi, William Bartholomew, Inside the Microsoft Build Engine
  • The task factory is the object that is responsible for creating instances of those tasks dynamically.

    Synonyms

    * manufactory

    Derived terms

    * factory reset

    firm

    English

    Etymology 1

    From (etyl) .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • (UK, business) A business partnership; the name under which it trades.
  • (business, economics) A business enterprise, however organized.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-01, volume=407, issue=8838, page=71, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= End of the peer show , passage=Finance is seldom romantic. But the idea of peer-to-peer lending comes close. This is an industry that brings together individual savers and lenders on online platforms.
  • (slang) A criminal gang.
  • Etymology 2

    (etyl) ferme, from (etyl) ferme, from (etyl) .

    Adjective

    (er)
  • steadfast, secure, hard (in position)
  • * It's good to have a firm grip when shaking hands.
  • fixed (in opinion)
  • a firm''' believer; a '''firm''' friend; a '''firm adherent
  • * He was firm that selling his company would a good choice and didn't let anyone talk him out of it.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2012 , date=May 9 , author=John Percy , title=Birmingham City 2 Blackpool 2 (2-3 on agg): match report , work=the Telegraph citation , page= , passage=With such constant off-field turmoil Hughton’s work has been remarkable and this may have been his last game in charge. West Bromwich Albion, searching for a replacement for Roy Hodgson, are firm admirers.}}
  • solid, rigid (material state)
  • firm''' flesh; '''firm''' muscles, '''firm''' wood; '''firm land (i.e. not soft and marshy)
    Derived terms
    * firm up * firmish * firmly * firmness * firmware

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make firm or strong; fix securely.
  • To make compact or resistant to pressure; solidify.
  • To become firm; stabilise.
  • To improve after decline.
  • Aust. To shorten (of betting odds).
  • Anagrams

    * * ----