fabrika
“fabrika” — factory in Basque. Noun, level A2, topic — buildings and premises. A loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika. In a live sentence: “Fabrika honek mila laguni lan ematen die” — This factory gives work to a thousand people. One of 10 words in the set “buildings and premises” in the Basque course.
In short
| Written in Basque | fabrika |
| Translation | factory |
| Part of speech | noun |
| Level | A2 |
Why it looks that way
A loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika
A word with a story stays in memory longer than one learned as a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.
In a live sentence
A single word almost never appears alone in conversation. A sentence shows where it fits and what stands next to it.
- Fabrika honek mila laguni lan ematen dieThis factory gives work to a thousand people
Nearby words: buildings and premises
Where to go and what is done there. These words are read off a sign more often than they are spoken.
- baserriafarmLiterally 'the wild settlement': baso — 'forest' + erri — 'settlement'. A mountain homestead, a household by the house; hence baserritarra — 'farmer'
- biltegiawarehouseLiterally 'the gathering place': bil/bildu — 'to gather' + -tegi, 'place', like hiztegia — 'the dictionary'. The place where everything is stacked
- laborategialaboratoryAn adapted loan from Latin, openly admitted: labora — 'work' + -tegi, 'place'. The scientist's 'working room'
- ekipamenduaequipmentA loan through the Spanish equipo, openly admitted. Everything a workplace is fitted out with
- ekoizpenaproductionFrom ekoiztu — 'to produce': e- + an old root, the word reassembled at the academy. What the workshop 'brought out'
- uniformeauniformA loan from Latin — unus, 'one' + forma, openly admitted. 'The one-form': everyone dressed the same, and that's the point
- kaskoahard hatA loan from the Spanish casco — helmet and skull at once, openly admitted. The crown of protection: without it nobody enters the site
- lan-segurtasunasafety rulesLiterally 'work's safety': lana — 'work' + segurtasuna — 'safety' (from segur — 'safe'). Safety here is a rule, not a device
- sarrera-baimenapass (entry permit)Literally 'the entry's permission': sarrera — 'entry' + baimena — 'permission', the same as in the driving licence. A paper that lets you in
Test yourself
Five questions from the same set — “buildings and premises”. Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than knowing a familiar word on sight, and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “factory” in Basque?
A loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika
- How do you say “hard hat” in Basque?
A loan from the Spanish casco — helmet and skull at once, openly admitted. The crown of protection: without it nobody enters the site
- How do you say “equipment” in Basque?
A loan through the Spanish equipo, openly admitted. Everything a workplace is fitted out with
- How do you say “farm” in Basque?
Literally 'the wild settlement': baso — 'forest' + erri — 'settlement'. A mountain homestead, a household by the house; hence baserritarra — 'farmer'
- How do you say “safety rules” in Basque?
Literally 'work's safety': lana — 'work' + segurtasuna — 'safety' (from segur — 'safe'). Safety here is a rule, not a device
How not to forget this word
Reading a word and remembering it are different jobs. A day later, little survives of a single reading — and that is not bad memory, that is how memory works.
- This has been tested on foreign words too. The difference shows up most when you test yourself a few days later rather than straight away.checked many timesKim & Webb, 2022, Language Learning 72(2) · 48 experiments, 3,411 participants, 98 comparisons.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- An answer you worked out yourself sticks better than one handed to you.checked many timesBertsch et al., 2007, Memory & Cognition 35(2) · 86 studies, 445 comparisons, d = 0.40.
Frequently asked
How do you say “factory” in Basque?
«fabrika». In a live sentence: “Fabrika honek mila laguni lan ematen die” — This factory gives work to a thousand people. Noun, level A2, from the set “buildings and premises”.
Why does this word look the way it does?
A loan from Latin, like ours, openly admitted. The native word lantegia was taken by 'workshop', so the factory here is fabrika. A word with a story stays in memory longer than a “spelling — translation” pair: memory holds on to meaning, not to a string.