THE FIRST WORD

factotum

PRONUNCIATION:

(fak-TOH-tuhm) 

MEANING:

noun: A servant or a low-level employee tasked with many things.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Latin factotum, from facere (to do) + totus (all). Earliest documented use: 1573.

USAGE:

"Now, a reporter trying to interview a business source is confronted by a phalanx of factotums."
David Carr; The Puppetry of Quotation Approval; The New York Times; Sep 16, 2012.