factor

Definition from Wiktionary, a free dictionary

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Contents 1 English 1.1 Etymology 1.2 Pronunciation 1.3 Noun 1.3.1 Quotations 1.3.2 Derived terms 1.3.3 Related terms 1.3.4 Translations 1.4 Verb 1.4.1 Derived terms 1.4.2 Translations 1.5 External links 2 Latin 2.1 Etymology 2.2 Noun 3 Spanish 3.1 Noun

[edit] English

[edit] Etymology

From Latin factor (“‘a doer, maker, performer, in Medieval Latin agent’”), from perfect passive participle factus (“‘done or made’”), from facere (“‘to do or make’”)

[edit] Pronunciation

•  Audio (US)^{help, file}

[edit] Noun

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

• 1956 — Arthur 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

• corn-factor
• factorize
• factorization
• form factor
• pull factor
• push factor

[edit] Related terms

• fact
• faction
• factorial
• factory
• fashion

[edit] Translations

[edit] Verb

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

• factor in
• refactor

[edit] Translations

[edit] External links

• factor in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• factor in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911

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[edit] Latin

[edit] Etymology

From verb facere, do or make

[edit] Noun

factor, genitive factoris, plural factores

1. doer, maker; one who or which does or makes something

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[edit] Spanish

[edit] Noun

factor m. (plural factores)

1. factor