Etymology

From Sicilian facchinu ‎(“jurist called upon to settle disputes related to customs”). Ultimately from Arabic فَقِيه ‎(faqīh, “theologian, jurisconsult, faqih”). Cognate with Spanish faquín, French faquin. The passage from a customs officer to porter would have occurred as a result of serious economic crisis in the Arab world, when, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, the customs officers were forced – to survive – to the sale of fabrics that they themselves transported – on their shoulders – from square to square.