prefabricatedadj.
/priːˈfabrᵻkeɪtᵻd/, U.S. /priˈfæbrəˌkeɪdᵻd/ 1.
a. Of a building or similar structure: constructed by assembling a relatively small number of components which have been made elsewhere.In quot. 1921 designating a company making or dealing in such structures.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > building of specific construction > [adjective]
wandedc1593
brick-built1596
rock-built1596
mud-walled1607
sedgy1624
sodden1639
nogged1688
frame1760
logged1784
stucco1786
weatherboarded1794
piled1795
thick-walled1820
clapboarded1835
board-built1837
pebble-dashed1839
puncheoned1843
timber-framed1843
betimbered1847
pile-built1851
massy1855
bamboo-walled1858
portable1860
half-timber1874
stone-faced1874
Red River frame1879
ashlared1881
granolithic1881
brick-end1883
converted1888
steel frame1898
board-and-bat1902
traviated1902
steel-framed1906
prefabricated1921
prefab1937
multiwall1940
pre-engineered1955
curtain-walled1959
pre-fabbed1959
timber-frame1967
system-built1968
flat-pack1982
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > [adjective] > prefabricated
prefabricated1921
prefab1937
pre-fabbed1959
1921 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 7 Dec. 7/3 The Pre-fabricated construction company, Ohio.
1933 Archit. Rev. 74 49/2 There are a number of houses, one among them being actually of the new ‘prefabricated’ type.
1944 Archit. Rev. 96 30 Mr. Churchill says that we need 500,000 prefabricated houses for temporary homes in the first two years of peace.
1951 ‘J. Wyndham’ Day of Triffids xvii. 298 The outbuildings are too small for our needs now—and I can't put up even prefabricated quarters singlehanded.
1989 A. Dillard Writing Life ii. 25 The study—sold as a prefabricated toolshed—is eight feet by ten feet.
2002 A. N. Wilson Victorians xlii. 611 The first part of his strategy was to set up a line of prefabricated blockhouses—constructed out of stone, with corrugated iron roofs.
b. Constructed or assembled before use or sale; ready-made; spec. (of a section of a prefabricated structure) manufactured for quick assembly elsewhere.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > manufacturing processes > [adjective] > prefabricated > of component
prefabricated1935
1935 Hammond (Indiana) Times 28 Dec. 1/1 Cotton, copper,..and various other commodities are as essential to military operations as guns and pre-fabricated ammunition.
1944 Archit. Rev. 96 32/2 These [houses] were built of various types of prefabricated panels; but the degree of prefabrication and actual ‘demountability’..varied considerably.
1968 H. G. Miller Building Constr. iv. 34 These prefabricated sections, completely fitted with all doors and windows, are transported to the building site.
1974 Daily Tel. 27 Nov. 9/1 So far about 10,000 tons of prefabricated sections of [the cruiser] Invincible have been assembled.
2001 S. Strum Barcelona: Guide Archit. iv. 4 This building is faced with alternating green and white prefabricated-concrete panels.
2. In extended use: manufactured, ready-made; artificial, contrived.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > [adjective] > created or produced > contrived, artificial, or put together
positivec1385
artificial?c1425
craftlya1492
wroughta1500
preparated1569
made1580
elaborate1583
elaborate1592
elaborated1596
handmade1603
arted1606
factitiousa1624
made-up1677
fictitious1686
man-madea1718
got-up1793
gotten-up1796
canned1878
artefact1909
prefabricated1935
1935 Time 7 Jan. 40/2 The youth is not having much success with his pre-fabricated recital.
1945 A. W. Coysh in To start you Talking ii. 30 The broadcast discussion is admittedly pre~fabricated.
1963 Times Lit. Suppl. 1 Feb. 71/1 Nothing he hated more than ‘ham’ writing and ‘prefabricated’ characters.
2004 Evening Times (Glasgow) (Nexis) 22 July 8 We want to..offer real songs, not the pre-fabricated rubbish you hear at times in the charts.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2007; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1921