Adjacent Words

Factor definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FAC'TOR, n. [L. factor; facio.]
1. In commerce, an agent employed by merchants, residing in other places, to buy and sell, and to negotiate bills of exchange, or to transact other business on their account.
2. an agent; a substitute.
3. In arithmetic, the multiplier and multiplicand, from the multiplication of which proceeds the product.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: anything that contributes causally to a result; "a number of factors determined the outcome"
2: an abstract part of something; "jealousy was a component of his character"; "two constituents of a musical composition are melody and harmony"; "the grammatical elements of a sentence"; "a key factor in her success"; "humor: an effective ingredient of a speech" [syn: component, constituent, element, factor, ingredient]
3: one of two or more integers that can be exactly divided into another integer; "what are the 4 factors of 6?" [syn: divisor, factor]
4: a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission [syn: agent, factor, broker]
5: any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when multiplied together
6: an independent variable in statistics
7: (genetics) a segment of DNA that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain; it can include regions preceding and following the coding DNA as well as introns between the exons; it is considered a unit of heredity; "genes were formerly called factors" [syn: gene, cistron, factor] v
1: resolve into factors; "a quantum computer can factor the number 15" [syn: factor, factor in, factor out]
2: be a contributing factor; "make things factor into a company's profitability"
3: consider as relevant when making a decision; "You must factor in the recent developments" [syn: factor, factor in, factor out]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French facteur, from Latin factor doer, from facere Date: 15th century 1. one who acts or transacts business for another: as a. broker 1b b. one that lends money to producers and dealers (as on the security of accounts receivable) 2. a. (1) one that actively contributes to the production of a result ; ingredient <price wasn't a factor in the decision> (2) a substance that functions in or promotes the function of a particular physiological process or bodily system b. a good or service used in the process of production 3. gene 4. a. any of the numbers or symbols in mathematics that when multiplied together form a product; also a number or symbol that divides another number or symbol b. a quantity by which a given quantity is multiplied or divided in order to indicate a difference in measurement <costs increased by a factor of 10> • factorship noun II. verb (factored; factoring) Date: 1621 intransitive verb to work as a factor transitive verb 1. to resolve into factors 2. a. to include or admit as a factor — used with in or into <factor inflation into our calculations> b. to exclude as a factor — used with out • factorable adjective

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a circumstance, fact, or influence contributing to a result. 2 Math. a whole number etc. that when multiplied with another produces a given number or expression. 3 Biol. a gene etc. determining hereditary character. 4 (foll. by identifying number) Med. any of several substances in the blood contributing to coagulation (factor eight). 5 a a business agent; a merchant buying and selling on commission. b Sc. a land-agent or steward. c an agent or a deputy. 6 a company that buys a manufacturer's invoices and takes responsibility for collecting the payments due on them. --v.tr. 1 Math. resolve into factors or components. 2 tr. sell (one's receivable debts) to a factor. Phrases and idioms: factor analysis Statistics a process by which the relative importance of variables in the study of a sample is assessed by mathematical techniques. Derivatives: factorable adj. Etymology: F facteur or L factor f. facere fact- do, make

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Factor Fac"tor, n. [L. factor a doer: cf. F. facteur a factor. See Fact.] 1. (Law) One who transacts business for another; an agent; a substitute; especially, a mercantile agent who buys and sells goods and transacts business for others in commission; a commission merchant or consignee. He may be a home factor or a foreign factor. He may buy and sell in his own name, and he is intrusted with the possession and control of the goods; and in these respects he differs from a broker. --Story. --Wharton. My factor sends me word, a merchant's fled That owes me for a hundred tun of wine. --Marlowe. 2. A steward or bailiff of an estate. [Scot.] --Sir W. Scott. 3. (Math.) One of the elements or quantities which, when multiplied together, from a product. 4. One of the elements, circumstances, or influences which contribute to produce a result; a constituent. The materal and dynamical factors of nutrition. --H. Spencer.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Factor Fac"tor, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Factored (-t?rd); p. pr. & vb. n. Factoring.] (Mach.) To resolve (a quantity) into its factors.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(factors, factoring, factored) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. A factor is one of the things that affects an event, decision, or situation. Physical activity is an important factor in maintaining fitness. N-COUNT 2. If an amount increases by a factor of two, for example, or by a factor of eight, then it becomes two times bigger or eight times bigger. The cost of butter quadrupled and bread prices increased by a factor of five. N-COUNT: usu sing, usu a N of num 3. You can use factor to refer to a particular level on a scale of measurement. ...suncream with a protection factor of 8. N-SING: usu a N of num 4. A factor of a whole number is a smaller whole number which can be multiplied with another whole number to produce the first whole number. (TECHNICAL) N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Agent, substitute, consignee, middleman, go-between, broker, commission merchant. 2. (Math.) Divisor, element of a product. 3. Constituent, constitutive element, determining element or circumstance or influence. II. v. a. Resolve into factors, find the factors of.

Moby Thesaurus

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