Factotum
noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A person having many diverse activities or responsibilities. dated
- 2 a servant employed to do a variety of jobs wordnet
- 3 A general servant. dated
"I had almost forgotten Monee, the grinning old man who prepared our meal. […] He was Po-Po’s factotum—cook, butler, and climber of the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees; and, added to all else, a mighty favourite with his mistress; with whom he would sit smoking and gossiping by the hour."
- 4 A person employed to do all sorts of duties.
"Biden’s and Bush’s factotums had to walk their statements quickly back, emphasizing that U.S. policy had not changed."
- 5 A jack of all trades.
"He lives with his devoted sister and factotum, Cyril (Lesley Manville), and a series of women who tend to be quietly eased out when they demand too much time and attention or — heaven forfend! — dare to speak during Woodcock’s monastic creative routine."
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- 6 A large decorative printing block with a central space into which any letter can be inserted, used to mark the beginning of a chapter of a book in early printing. historical
Example
More examples"I had almost forgotten Monee, the grinning old man who prepared our meal. […] He was Po-Po’s factotum—cook, butler, and climber of the bread-fruit and cocoa-nut trees; and, added to all else, a mighty favourite with his mistress; with whom he would sit smoking and gossiping by the hour."
Etymology
Ellipsis of domine fac totum, dominus fac totum /dominus factotum (“absolute ruler; head servant”), from Medieval Latin domine fac tōtum (“O Lord, do everything”), also with substition of nominative dominus for vocative domine.
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.