factor (n.)

early 15c., "commercial agent, deputy, one who buys or sells for another," from French facteur "agent, representative" (Old French factor, faitor "doer, author, creator"), from Latin factor "doer, maker, performer," in Medieval Latin, "agent," agent noun from past participle stem of facere "to do" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, put"). In commerce, especially "a commission merchant." Mathematical sense ("The Quantities given to be multiplied one by the other are called Factors") is from 1670s. Sense of "circumstance producing a result" is attested by 1816, from the mathematical sense.

also from early 15c.

factor (v.)

1610s, "act as an agent, manage," from factor (n.). The use in mathematics is attested from 1837. Related: Factored; factoring.

also from 1610s

Entries linking to factor

factorial (n.)

1816, in mathematics, from factor + -al (2). As an adjective from 1837 in mathematics; from 1881 as "pertaining to a factor."

multifactorial (adj.)

also multi-factorial, "involving or dependent on a number of factors," 1920, from multi- "many" + factor (n.) + -ial.

*dhe-

*dhē-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to set, put."

It forms all or part of: abdomen; abscond; affair; affect (v.1) "make a mental impression on;" affect (v.2) "make a pretense of;" affection; amplify; anathema; antithesis; apothecary; artifact; artifice; beatific; benefice; beneficence; beneficial; benefit; bibliothec; bodega; boutique; certify; chafe; chauffeur; comfit; condiment; confection; confetti; counterfeit; deed; deem; deface; defeasance; defeat; defect; deficient; difficulty; dignify; discomfit; do (v.); doom; -dom; duma; edifice; edify; efface; effect; efficacious; efficient; epithet; facade; face; facet; facial; -facient; facile; facilitate; facsimile; fact; faction (n.1) "political party;" -faction; factitious; factitive; factor; factory; factotum; faculty; fashion; feasible; feat; feature; feckless; fetish; -fic; fordo; forfeit; -fy; gratify; hacienda; hypothecate; hypothesis; incondite; indeed; infect; justify; malefactor; malfeasance; manufacture; metathesis; misfeasance; modify; mollify; multifarious; notify; nullify; office; officinal; omnifarious; orifice; parenthesis; perfect; petrify; pluperfect; pontifex; prefect; prima facie; proficient; profit; prosthesis; prothesis; purdah; putrefy; qualify; rarefy; recondite; rectify; refectory; sacrifice; salmagundi; samadhi; satisfy; sconce; suffice; sufficient; surface; surfeit; synthesis; tay; ticking (n.); theco-; thematic; theme; thesis; verify.

It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit dadhati "puts, places;" Avestan dadaiti "he puts;" Old Persian ada "he made;" Hittite dai- "to place;" Greek tithenai "to put, set, place;" Latin facere "to make, do; perform; bring about;" Lithuanian dėti "to put;" Polish dziać się "to be happening;" Russian delat' "to do;" Old High German tuon, German tun, Old English don "to do."

Trends of factor

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/. Ngrams are probably unreliable.

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component

1640s, "constituent part or element" (earlier "one of a group of persons," 1560s), from Latin componentem (nominative componens), present participle of componere "to put together, to collect a whole from several parts," from com "with, together" (see com-) + ponere "to place" (se

constituent

1620s, "one who appoints or elects a representative," from Latin constituentem (nominative constituens), present participle of constituere "to cause to stand, set up, fix, place, establish, set in order; form something new; resolve," of persons, "to appoint to an office," from as

element

c. 1300, "earth, air, fire, or water; one of the four things regarded by the ancients as the constituents of all things," from Old French element (10c.), from Latin elementum "rudiment, first principle, matter in its most basic form" (translating Greek stoikheion), origin and ori

parameter

A geometry term until late 1920s when it began to be extended to "measurable factor which helps to define a particular system...," hence the common meaning (influenced by perimeter) of "boundary, limit, characteristic factor," common from 1950s....

factory

from French factorie (15c.), from Late Latin factorium "office for agents ('factors')," also "oil press, mill," from Latin factor...

holism

Holism (from [holos] = whole) is the term here coined for this fundamental factor operative towards the creation of wholes...

risk

Risk aversion is recorded from 1942; risk factor from 1906; risk management from 1963; risk-taker from 1892....

bring

Old English bringan "to bear, convey, take along in coming; bring forth, produce, present, offer" (past tense brohte, past participle broht), from Proto-Germanic *brangjanan (source also of Old Frisian branga "attest, declare, assure," Middle Dutch brenghen, Old High German bring

reckon

c. 1200, recenen, rekenen, "enumerate, count up; name one by one; relate, recount; make calculations," from Old English gerecenian "to explain, relate, recount; arrange in order," from Proto-Germanic *(ga)rakinaz "ready, straightforward" (source also of Old Frisian rekenia, Middl

calculate

1560s, "ascertain by computation, estimate by mathematical means," from Latin calculatus, past participle of calculare "to reckon, compute," from calculus (see calculus). It replaced earlier calculen (mid-14c.), from Old French calculer. The meaning "to plan, devise" is attested

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updated on December 09, 2020

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Dictionary entries near factor

factionalism

factious

factitious

factitive

factoid

factor

factorial

factory

factotum

factual

faculties