Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

factor

Cross references:
  1. element               
 
1. fac.tor \'fak-t*r\ \-.ship\ n [ME, fr. MF facteur, fr. L factor doer, 
   fr. factus] 1: one who acts or transacts business for another : as  1a: 
   COMMISSION MERCHANT  1b: an agent in charge of a trading post  2a: 
   something that actively contributes to the production of a result : 
   (MINGREDIENT 2b: a good or service used in the process of production  3a: 
   GENE  3b: a presumed equivalent of a gene  4a: any of the numbers or 
   symbols in mathematics that when multiplied toget her form a product 4b: 
   the number by which a given time is multiplied in photography to give t he 
   complete time for exposure or development 4c: a number that converts by 
   multiplication the weight of one substance in to the chemically equivalent 
   weight of another substance - fac.tor.ship n
2. factor \-t(*-)rin\ \-t(*-)r*-b*l\ vt or fac.tor.ing 1: to resolve into 
   factors  2: to act as factor for  - fac.tor.able aj