factor Hear it!

factor Definition

fac·tor (fak′tər)

noun

    1. a person who carries on business transactions for another; commission merchant; agent for the sale of goods entrusted to his possession
    2. an agent, as a banking or finance company, engaged in financing the operations of certain companies, or in financing wholesale and retail sales, through the purchase of accounts receivable

  2. Etymology: < fig. use of sense 4

    any of the circumstances, conditions, etc. that bring about a result; element or constituent that makes a thing what it is
  3. Biol. gene
  4. Math. any of two or more quantities which form a product when multiplied together

Etymology: ME factour < OFr facteur < L factor, doer, maker < pp. of facere, do

transitive verb

☆ Math. to resolve into factors

intransitive verb

to act in the capacity of a factor

Related Forms:

factor Idioms

factor in (or into)

to include as a factor
factor Synonyms

factor

n.

  1. A component part

    portion, constituent, determinant; see circumstance 1, part 1.

  2. An agent

    broker, steward, representative; see administrator, agent 1. See syn. study at agent, element.

factor Law Definition

n

One who buys accounts receivable for an amount less than their face value and collects the full amount, pocketing the difference as his or her commission; one who sells goods received on consignment.
factor Usage Examples

Possessives

  • wow: Plasma Screens For the ultimate ' wow ' factor, you've got to get one of these.

Converse of object

  • contribute: Another contributing factor are the flat sides of the DS Lite.
  • decide: The salary of a borrower is a deciding factor for judging the amount of loan in the case of unsecured no credit check loan.
  • identify: The factors identified in the CP to determine significance are appropriate.
  • associate: But neuropathy can also be caused by factors not necessarily associated with diabetes.
  • determine: However, the large increase in their equity is often the biggest determining factor.
  • confound: The first of these is difficult to judge and must be left as a possible confounding factor.

Preposition: for

  • osteoporosis: Throughout life we can take action to minimize some risk factors for osteoporosis and fractures.

Adjective modifier

  • contributory: Nitrogen oxides are therefore a contributory factor in the production of acid rain.
  • important: Of course the most important factor for many of us is the cost.
  • key: A key factor in the process is the needs of the end user, in this case the food company.
  • environmental: There are many ways in which a chemical may break down, with each process dependent on a variety of environmental factors.
  • major: A major factor is my mood at the time of watching such images.
  • critical: The cost of energy of marine renewables is a critical factor to their success.

Noun used with modifier

  • transcription: For example, precursors of SREBP ( sterol response element binding protein ) transcription factors are integral proteins embedded in endoplasmic reticulum membranes.
  • risk: Risk factors are: heart failure, diabetes, high blood pressure, a previous history of blood clots.
  • wow: The wow factor produced by Osborne's lighting was incredible.
  • growth: It is thought that the growth factor speeds up the movement of cells into the wounds.
  • necrosis: The prevalence of patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the West Midlands fulfilling the BSR criteria for anti-tumour necrosis factor therapy: an out-patient study.
  • correction: This is done for both input images and the average taken, to give a correction factor to be fed into siena_diff.
factor Quotes

   It is change, continuing change, inevitable change, that is the dominant factor in our society today† This, in turn, means that our statesmen, our businessmen, our everyman must take on a science fictional way of thinking.

—Asimov, Isaac