1560s, "something made by hand," from Middle French manufacture (16c.), from Medieval Latin *manufactura "a making by hand" (source of Italian manifattura, Spanish manufactura), from Latin manu, ablative of manus "hand" (from PIE root *man- (2) "hand") + factura "a working," from past-participle stem of facere "to perform" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put").
Sense of "process of making goods or wares of any kind, the production of articles of use from raw or prepared materials by hand-labor or machinery" is recorded by 1620s. Related: Manufactures.