factor

See also: Factor

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k-
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti
Proto-Italic *θakjō
Proto-Italic *fakjō
Latin faciō
Proto-Indo-European *-tōr
Proto-Italic *-tōr
Latin -tor
Latin factorbor.
Middle French facteurbor.
▲
Latin factorbor.
Anglo-Norman factourbor.
Middle English factour
English factor

    Inherited from Middle English factour, from Middle French facteur, Anglo-Norman factour, and their etymon Latin factor (“a doer, maker, performer”), from factus (“done or made”), perfect passive participle of faciō (“do, make”).

    Pronunciation

    • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈfæk.tə/, [ˈfæk.tʰə]
    • (General American) IPA(key): /ˈfæk.təɹ/, [ˈfæk.tʰɚ] ~ [ˈfæk.tʰɹ̩]
      • Audio (US):(file)
    • Rhymes: -æktə(ɹ)
    • Hyphenation: fact‧or

    Noun

    factor (plural factors)

    1. (obsolete) A doer, maker; a person who does things for another person or organization.
      Hyponym: factotum
      The factor of the trading post bought the furs.
    3. An agent or representative; a reseller or distributor (sometimes with a private label); a consignee.
    4. (law)
      1. A commission agent.
      2. A person or business organization that provides money for another's new business venture; one who finances another's business.
      3. A business organization that lends money on accounts receivable or buys and collects accounts receivable.
    6. One of the elements, circumstances, or influences which contribute to produce a result.
      The greatest factor in the decision was the need for public transportation.
      The economy was a factor in this year's budget figures.
      • 1864-1898, Herbert Spencer, Principles of Biology
        the material and dynamical factors of nutrition
      • 2013 August 6, John Michael McGrath, “The Frankenmeat of the Future”, in Hazlitt‎[1], archived from the original on 3 September 2026:
        The UN, for its part, has suggested eating insects as a way of feeding those extra mouths, which may put the frankenmeat ick factor in perspective.
    8. (mathematics) Any of various objects multiplied together to form some whole.
      Hyponym: coefficient
      3 is a factor of 12, as are 2, 4 and 6.
      The factors of the Klein four-group are both cyclic of order 2.
      The formula adjusts for region and season by multiplying by a prescribed factor for each.
    10. (causal analysis) Influence; a phenomenon that affects the nature, the magnitude, and/or the timing of a consequence.
      The launch temperature was a factor of the Challenger disaster.
      • 2013 May-June, Charles T. Ambrose, “Alzheimer’s Disease”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 200:
        Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems— […]. Such a slow-release device containing angiogenic factors could be placed on the pia mater covering the cerebral cortex and tested in persons with senile dementia in long term studies.
    11. (economics) A resource used in the production of goods or services, a factor of production.
      • 2013 June 22, “T time”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8841, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 68:
        The ability to shift profits to low-tax countries by locating intellectual property in them […] is often assumed to be the preserve of high-tech companies. […] current tax rules make it easy for all sorts of firms to generate […] “stateless income”: profit subject to tax in a jurisdiction that is neither the location of the factors of production that generate the income nor where the parent firm is domiciled.
    12. (Scotland) A steward or bailiff of an estate.

    Hyponyms

    Hyponyms of factor (noun)

    Derived terms

    Terms derived from factor (noun) (some may be hyponyms)
    Terms etymologically related to factor (noun)

    Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
    Translations to be checked

    See also

    Other terms used in arithmetic operations:

    Advanced hyperoperations: tetration, pentation, hexation

    Verb

    factor (third-person singular simple present factors, present participle factoring, simple past and past participle factored)

    1. (transitive) To find all the factors of (a number or other mathematical object) (the objects that divide it evenly).
    2. (transitive) To rewrite an expression as the product of its factors.
    3. (of a number or other mathematical object, intransitive) To be a product of other objects.
    4. (commercial, transitive) To sell a debt or debts to an agent (the factor) to collect.

    Derived terms

    Translations

    Further reading

    Catalan

    Etymology

    Borrowed from Latin factōrem.

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    factor m (plural factors)

    1. doer, agent (someone who does something)
    2. factor (element, important part)
    3. (biology, mathematics) factor
    4. (railroad) porter
    5. (business, commerce) agent (someone who buys and sells on someone else's behalf)

    Further reading

    Dutch

    Etymology

    From Middle Dutch factoor, from Middle French facteur, from Latin factor (“a doer, maker, performer”), from factus (“done or made”), perfect passive participle of faciō (“do, make”).

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈfɑk.tɔr/
    • Audio:(file)
    • Hyphenation: fac‧tor

    Noun

    factor m (plural factoren, diminutive factortje n)

    1. a factor, element
      Een belangrijke factor voor succes is hard werken.
      A key factor for success is hard work.
    2. (mathematics) factor
      In de wiskunde kun je een getal ontbinden in factoren om het te vereenvoudigen.
      In mathematics, you can decompose a number into factors to simplify it.
    3. (obsolete) business representative

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • Afrikaans: faktor
    • → Indonesian: faktor
    • → West Frisian: faktor

    Latin

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
    Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k-
    Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
    Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti
    Proto-Italic *θakjō
    Proto-Italic *fakjō
    Latin faciō
    Proto-Indo-European *-tōr
    Proto-Italic *-tōr
    Latin -tor
    Latin factor

      From faciō (“to do, make”) + -tor (masculine agent noun suffix).

      Pronunciation

      Noun

      factor m (genitive factōris); third declension

      1. One who or which does or makes something; doer, maker, performer, perpetrator, agent, player.
        Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem, factórem cæli et terræ ― I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, maker of Heaven and earth.
      2. (sports) player, batsman

      Declension

      Third-declension noun.

      singular plural
      nominative factor factōrēs
      genitive factōris factōrum
      dative factōrī factōribus
      accusative factōrem factōrēs
      ablative factōre factōribus
      vocative factor factōrēs

      Descendants

      References

      • “factor”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
      • "factor", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
      • “factor”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
      • “factor”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
      • “factor”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

      Portuguese

      Noun

      factor m (plural factores)

      1. pre-reform spelling (used until 1943 in Brazil and 1990 in Portugal) of fator; still used where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

      Further reading

      Romanian

      Etymology

      Etymology tree
      Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-
      Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k-
      Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
      Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti
      Proto-Italic *θakjō
      Proto-Italic *fakjō
      Latin faciō
      Proto-Indo-European *-tōr
      Proto-Italic *-tōr
      Latin -tor
      Latin factorlbor.
      French facteurbor.
      Romanian factor

        Borrowed from French facteur.

        Noun

        factor m (plural factori)

        1. factor
        2. postal worker, postman, mailman

        Declension

        singular plural
        indefinite definite indefinite definite
        nominative-accusative factor factorul factori factorii
        genitive-dative factor factorului factori factorilor
        vocative factorule factorilor

        Spanish

        Pronunciation

        • IPA(key): /faɡˈtoɾ/ [faɣ̞ˈt̪oɾ]
        • Audio (Colombia):(file)
        • Rhymes: -oɾ
        • Syllabification: fac‧tor

        Etymology 1

        Borrowed from Latin factor. Compare the inherited doublet hechor (cf. malhechor).

        Noun

        factor m (plural factores)

        1. factor
        Derived terms

        Etymology 2

        From facto (“a trufax”), from English fact, itself from Old French fact, from Latin factum. Compare with the Internet slang interjection facts used to express agreement.

        Noun

        factor m (plural factores)

        1. (Internet slang) an opinion considered a true fact; a trufax; a truth [from 2010s].
          Synonyms: hecho, (Internet slang) facto
        Usage notes

        As a direct object, it's usually accompanied by the verbs soltar, decir, tirar, all meaning spill (to express) in this context.

        Further reading

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