"Factory" (from Latin facere, meaning "to do"; Portuguese: feitoria; Dutch: factorij; French: factorerie, comptoir) was the common name during the medieval and early modern eras for an entrepôt – which was essentially an early form of free-trade zone or transshipment point. At a factory, local inhabitants could interact with foreign merchants, often known as factors.[1] First established in Europe, factories eventually spread to many other parts of the world.