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factor

Flag: gbEnglishOxford Dictionary of English
factor /ˈfaktə /
▸ noun
1 a circumstance, fact, or influence that contributes to a result:
his skill was a factor in ensuring that so much was achieved
she worked fast, conscious of the time factor.
▪ Biology a gene or similar agent transmitted by heredity from one generation to the next:
the Rhesus factor.
2 a number or quantity that when multiplied with another produces a given number or expression:
an amount that exceeds it by a factor of 1000 or more.
▪ Mathematics a number or algebraic expression by which another is exactly divisible.
3 a level on a scale of measurement.
▪ (with numeral) a sunscreen of the sun protection factor specified:
factor 30 sun cream.
4 Physiology any of a number of substances in the blood, mostly identified by numerals, which are involved in coagulation. See factor VIII
5 an agent who buys and sells goods on commission:
his father was chief factor for the Hudson's Bay Company.
▪ a company that buys a manufacturer's invoices at a discount and takes responsibility for collecting the payments due on them.
▪ Scottish English a land agent or steward:
the house became home to the estate factor.
▪ archaic an agent, deputy, or representative.
▸ verb [with object]
1 Mathematics another term for factorize:
last year researchers factored a number 155 digits long.
2 Computing organize (the source code of a piece of software) into different components that are easier to maintain and work with:
this situation occurs when code is factored to remove application- and domain-specific dependencies.
3 (of a company) sell (its invoices) to a factor:
they collected rents while he factored these forfeited estates.
– PHRASAL VERBS
factor in /ˌfaktər ˈɪn / (factor something in, factor in something) include a particular fact or circumstance in one's considerations or calculations; take something into account:
when the psychological costs are factored in, a different picture will emerge.
factor out (factor something out, factor out something) exclude a particular fact or circumstance from one's considerations or calculations:
I suspect that if new car sales were factored out, sales in retail stores are actually decreasing.
– DERIVATIVES
factorable adjective
– ORIGIN late Middle English (meaning ‘doer’, also in the Scots sense ‘agent’): from French facteur or Latin factor, from fact- ‘done’, from the verb facere.