The word factotum may be confusing, as it has nothing to do with facts or veracity. We will examine the meaning of the word factotum, where it came from and some examples of its use in sentences.
A factotum is an employee who has many responsibilities and does all types of work. The original phrase, coined in the mid-1500s, was magister factotum, which means master of everything. In fact, the meaning of the word factotum is better understood as a Jack of all trades, or a handyman. Such a person is not an expert at any one type of task, but is fairly competent in many types of tasks. Factotum is a Latin word derived from the Latin fac, meaning do something, and the word totum meaning the whole of everything. The plural form of factotum is factotums.
Examples
“There’s one viewer that you care about right now, and you’re being obsequious, and you’re being a factotum in order to please him,” he said as he cut off the conversation. (The Week)
Wolff in addition calls Hicks, who is from Connecticut, “a kind of Stepford factotum, as absolutely dedicated to and tolerant of Mr Trump as anyone who had ever worked for him.” (Newsweek Magazine)
Knowing my limitations as a factotum, Tom suggested with all due tact and diplomacy, that if I would purchase the cupboards and have them delivered to the kitchen, he, Tom Audia, would “help’’ me install them. (The Torrington Register-Citizen)
Nevertheless, let us look at the past record and compare the present with the apparent political situation, staring Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his factotum Amit Shah in their home state, presumed to be an impregnable saffron citadel to a casual observer. (The National Herald India)