Definition of "factor" in Anglais

noun

1. (obsolete) A doer, maker; a person who does things for another person or organization.

   • The factor of the trading post bought the furs.

2. An agent or representative; a reseller or distributor (sometimes with a private label); a consignee.

3. A commission agent.

4. A person or business organization that provides money for another's new business venture; one who finances another's business.

5. A business organization that lends money on accounts receivable or buys and collects accounts receivable.

6. One of the elements, circumstances, or influences which contribute to produce a result.

   • The greatest factor in the decision was the need for public transportation.
   • The economy was a factor in this year's budget figures.

7. (mathematics) Any of various objects multiplied together to form some whole.

   • 3 is a factor of 12, as are 2, 4 and 6.
   • The factors of the Klein four-group are both cyclic of order 2.
   • The formula adjusts for region and season by multiplying by a prescribed factor for each.

8. (causal analysis) Influence; a phenomenon that affects the nature, the magnitude, and/or the timing of a consequence.

   • The launch temperature was a factor of the Challenger disaster.

9. (economics) A resource used in the production of goods or services, a factor of production.

10. (Scotland) A steward or bailiff of an estate.

verb

1. (transitive) To find all the factors of (a number or other mathematical object) (the objects that divide it evenly).

2. (transitive) To rewrite an expression as the product of its factors.

3. (of a number or other mathematical object, intransitive) To be a product of other objects.

4. (commercial, transitive) To sell a debt or debts to an agent (the factor) to collect.