Other forms: factors
A factor is one of the things that shapes a result. A deciding factor, several factors, take it into account as a factor.
In arithmetic it is exact: a factor divides a number without a remainder, and the factors of twelve are one, two, three, four, six and twelve. In Scotland a factor is a land agent. The Latin means a doer or maker.
1nounfactorOne of the things that shapes a result.
“The weather was a major factor in the decision to cancel the race.”
2nounnumberA number that divides another exactly.
“The teacher asked us to list all the factors of twelve.”
factor is a cause, or a divisor.
Latin factor means a doer or maker, from facere, to do or make.
Proto-Indo-European
*dʰeh₁-
Middle English
factour
English, today
factor
Built from
From Middle English factour. 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”).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA