fecit

Fecit is a Latin verb form meaning "he made" or "he did." It is the third-person singular perfect active indicative of facere, used to express a completed act. The present tense is facit ("he makes"), and the imperfect is facēbat ("he was making"). In scholarly works, the form is often written with a macron as fēcit, indicating the long vowel in Classical Latin.

In inscriptions and author attributions, fecit is commonly used to indicate authorship or creation. A signature such as Name fecit or simply Name f. (an abbreviation in inventories) signals that the named person made the work. In art and architecture, this usage serves to attribute a painting, sculpture, coin, or architectural piece to its creator, especially in Latin inscriptions from antiquity through later periods when Latin remained a conventional scholarly language.

In art history and cataloging, fecit frequently appears as part of a formula attributing a work to a specific maker or workshop. The phrase can be found on paintings, sculptures, and engraved objects, where it functions similarly to the English "made by [Name]." The abbreviation f. or fec. may also occur in inventories and scholarly references.

See also: Latin signatures and attributions, attribution verbs in art inscriptions, fecit versus facit in Latin grammar.

Etymology: fecit derives from facere, meaning to do or to make. The sense of the word in inscriptions is to indicate that the named person completed the creation of the work.