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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

factor.

A doer, maker; a person who does things for another person or organization.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈfæk.tə/Received-Pronunciation[ˈfæk.tʰə]Received-Pronunciation/ˈfæk.təɹ/General-American[ˈfæk.tʰɚ] ~ [ˈfæk.tʰɹ̩]General-American
  1. A doer, maker; a person who does things for another person or organization.

    obsolete
    The factor of the trading post bought the furs.
  2. An agent or representative; a reseller or distributor (sometimes with a private label); a consignee.

  3. A commission agent.

  4. A person or business organization that provides money for another's new business venture; one who finances another's business.

  5. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. A resource used in the production of goods or services, a factor of production.

  10. A steward or bailiff of an estate.

    Scotland
Where this word comes from

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”).

verb/ˈfæk.tə/Received-Pronunciation[ˈfæk.tʰə]Received-Pronunciation/ˈfæk.təɹ/General-American[ˈfæk.tʰɚ] ~ [ˈfæk.tʰɹ̩]General-American
  1. To find all the factors of (a number or other mathematical object) (the objects that divide it evenly).

    transitive
  2. To rewrite an expression as the product of its factors.

    transitive
  3. To be a product of other objects.

    intransitive
  4. To sell a debt or debts to an agent (the factor) to collect.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.