Factor

How to spell factor

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce factor

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does factor mean?

1. nounA circumstance or element that contributes to a particular result or outcome.
2. nounA whole number that divides another exactly, without leaving a remainder.
3. verbTo include something as a relevant consideration in a calculation or decision.

Factor in a sentence

• noun

  Poor weather was a major factor in the delayed harvest.

• noun

  The number six is a factor of twelve.

• verb

  Remember to factor travel time into your morning schedule.

• noun

  Cost is the deciding factor for most of our customers.

• noun

  To simplify the fraction, find a common factor of both numbers.

• verb

  The budget did not factor in the rising cost of materials.

Where does factor come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Factor comes from the Latin factor, meaning 'a doer' or 'a maker', which was formed from the verb facere, 'to do' or 'to make', plus the agent ending -or that marks the person performing an action. It entered English in the late 1400s, at first describing an agent or someone who transacts business on another's behalf, a sense that still survives in commercial terms like a 'debt factor'. From the idea of an active doer the meaning broadened to anything that actively contributes to a result, which gave us the everyday sense of a contributing circumstance. Mathematicians later borrowed it for a number that, when multiplied with others, helps make a product, neatly echoing the original 'maker' idea. The same facere root sits inside a large family of relatives such as factory, manufacture, and benefactor, and that shared fact spelling is a reliable anchor for remembering this word.

How the word is built

• fact (from Latin facere: to do, to make)
• -or (agent/noun suffix: one that does)