Affixes

Terms in ‑facient are usually adjectives that relate to or describe an induced change. Some were formed in Latin, such as stupefacient, inducing stupor, and rubefacient (Latin rubellus, reddish), causing the skin to go red, say during medical treatment. Others have been created in English, including abortifacient, productive of abortion. Such terms can often also be nouns that identify the agent causing the change. A few words in ‑facient have related verbs in ‑fy (liquify, stupify); these and others have nouns in ‑faction that describe the action in the abstract (putrefaction, tumefaction).