autofac

English

Etymology

Clipping of autofactory.

Noun

autofac (plural autofacs)

1. (science fiction) Synonym of autofactory (“a factory capable of running autonomously”).
   • 1955 November, Philip K[indred] Dick, “Autofac”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, volume 11, number 2, page 87:

     Behind them, the dilapidated settlement lay spread out, a disorderly checkerboard of houses, buildings and streets. Since the autofac network had closed down its supply and maintenance, the human settlements had fallen into semi-barbarism.

   • 1974, Edmund Cooper, The Slaves of Heaven, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Medallion, published 1975, →ISBN, page 57:

     The autofacs were a different kind of machine altogether. They could make things. They could make anything from clothing to robots, from weapons to music machines.

   • 1986, Gregory Benford, David Brin, Heart of the Comet, Toronto, O.N. […]: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 327:

     All around her the holo displays glowed faintly. Even some of the units that had gone blank over her long sleep were replaced, now that she and Jeffers had gotten the autofac working properly up on A Level.

Usage notes

• Chiefly associated with the works of Philip K. Dick.