factor

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

Jump to: navigation, search
Wikipedia-logo.png
Wikipedia has an article on:

Wikipedia

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Latin factor (a doer, maker, performer), from perfect passive participle factus (done or made), from faciō (do, make).

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Noun

Singular
factor

Plural
factors

factor (plural factors)

  1. A doer, maker; a person who does things for another person or organization
    The factor of the trading post bought the furs.
  2. An integral part
    The greatest factor in the decision was the need for public transportation.
    The economy was a factor in this year's budget figures.
  3. (mathematics) Any of various objects multiplied together to form some whole
    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.
  4. (root cause 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.

[edit] Quotations

  • 1956Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars, p 38
    The first thousand primes...marched in order before him...the complete sequence of all those numbers that possessed no factors except themselves and unity.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

[edit] Verb

Infinitive
to factor

Third person singular
factors

Simple past
factored

Past participle
factored

Present participle
factoring

to 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. (of a number or other mathematical object, intransitive) To be a product of other objects.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links


[edit] Latin

[edit] Etymology

From faciō (do, make).

[edit] Noun

factor (genitive factōris); m, third declension

  1. One who or which does or makes something; doer, maker, performer, perpetrator, agent, player.

[edit] Inflection

Number Singular Plural
nominative factor factōrēs
genitive factōris factōrum
dative factōrī factōribus
accusative factōrem factōrēs
ablative factōre factōribus
vocative factor factōrēs

[edit] Descendants

[edit] References

  • factor” in Charlton T. Lewis & Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary (Oxford: Clarendon Press)

[edit] Spanish

[edit] Noun

factor m. (plural factores)

Singular
factor m.

Plural
factores m.

  1. factor