“Factory” as a building for the manucture or processing of goods is older than “manufactory”, and so is not an abbreviation. “Manufactory” first occurs in 1640 and was probably coined to avoid ambiguity; at that time “factory” had more than one established sense; as well as the “building where goods are made/processed” sense it also meant “establishment for traders carrying on business; trading place; trading post”. The East India company had “factories” at various places in India; the officials staffing them there were known as “factors”, a word for a person who acted as agent for a trading company.
As “factory” in the sense of “trading post” became obsolete, the need for “manufactory” to distinguish the sense of “place of manufacture” declined and so that word too became obsolete.
She then goes on to talk about the adoption and origin of another Lombard word, ‘bankrupt’ from bancarotta, and mentions that the place where Lombard bankers settled in London is still called Lombard Street.
That specific usage about the pianta being good or bad exists in Spanish as well, IIUIC, in the sense that a well-built place, process or even person is said to have buena planta. A related verb, plantear (different from plantar, “to plant” and from planear or planificar, “to plan”), refers to choosing the methodology to use in solving a problem or complex situation; thus, a battle will be both planteada (the main strategy chosen) and planeada (the details of the strategy filled up).
Sounds like the origin of an industrial facility being equated to a “plant” (in English speaking countries at least) must have its beginning in Italy-Spain. Thanks all!
I’m not able to come up with much in the way of citation right now, but I think it’s related to some sort of 18th century capitalist or accounting language that refers to the means of production as “fixed plant” or, in the terms of utilities, the “outside plant.”