factotum
/fækˈtəʊ.təm/
"factotum" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“factotum” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person having many diverse activities or responsibilities.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | factotum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /fækˈtəʊ.təm/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “factotum” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for factotum is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fækˈtəʊ.təm/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for factotum, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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. The correct English form is factotum, spelled F-A-C-T-O-T-U-M.
Definition
- 1A person having many diverse activities or responsibilities.
- 2A general servant.
- 3A person employed to do all sorts of duties.
- 4A jack of all trades.
- 5A 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.
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.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “factotum”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-A-C-T-O-T-U-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /fækˈtəʊ.təm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.