factoid (English)
Where does "factoid" come from?
The English noun 'factoid' was coined in 1973 by the American writer Norman Mailer in Marilyn: A Biography[1]. Mailer combined the English word 'fact' with the suffix '-oid', meaning 'similar, but not the same'[1], to define it as a creation or fact that has no existence before appearing in a newspaper or magazine to manipulate emotion[1]. The root word 'fact' itself traces back through Old French and Latin 'factum', meaning 'an act, deed, feat, etc.', originating from the Proto-Indo-European base '*dʰeh₁-' meaning 'to put, place, set'[2].
Full etymology tree
- factoid (English), 'An inaccurate statement or statistic believed to be true because of broad repetition, especially if cited in the media.'
- compound fact (English), 'Something actual as opposed to invented.'
- inherited fact (Old French)
- inherited factum (Latin), 'accusative supine of faciō and fīō'
- derived factus (Latin), 'done, made, having been done or made'
- derived facio (Latin), 'to do (particularly as a specific instance or occasion of doing)'
- inherited *dʰeh₁- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to do'
- derived facio (Latin), 'to do (particularly as a specific instance or occasion of doing)'
- derived factus (Latin), 'done, made, having been done or made'
- inherited factum (Latin), 'accusative supine of faciō and fīō'
- inherited fact (Old French)
- suffix -oid (English), 'Resembling; having the likeness of (usually including the concept of not being the same despite the likeness, but counterexamples exist).'
- compound fact (English), 'Something actual as opposed to invented.'
Ancestors
- fact (English)
- -oid (English)
Descendants and derived words
- facturd (English)
Sources
Updated September 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris