[fac.tor] n [ME, fr. MF facteur, fr. L factor doer, fr. facere] (15c) 1: one who acts or transacts business for another: as a: broker 1b b: one that lends money to producers and dealers (as on the security of accounts receivable)
2. a (1): one that actively contributes to the production of a result: ingredient "price wasn't a ~ in the decision" (2): a substance that functions in or promotes the function of a particular physiological process or bodily system b: a good or service used in the process of production
3: gene
4. a: any of the numbers or symbols in mathematics that when multiplied together form a product; also: a number or symbol that divides another number or symbol b: a quantity by which a given quantity is multiplied or divided in order to indicate a difference in measurement "costs increased by a ~ of 10" -- fac.tor.ship n
[2]factor vb fac.tored ; fac.tor.ing vi (1621): to work as a factor ~ vt 1: to resolve into factors
2. a: to include or admit as a factor--used with in or into "~ inflation into our calculations" b: to exclude as a factor--used with out -- fac.tor.able adj