FACTOR

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does factor mean? 

• FACTOR (noun)
  The noun FACTOR has 7 senses:

1. anything that contributes causally to a result

2. an abstract part of something

3. one of two or more integers that can be exactly divided into another integer

4. a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission

5. any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when multiplied together

6. an independent variable in statistics

7. (genetics) a segment of DNA that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain; it can include regions preceding and following the coding DNA as well as introns between the exons; it is considered a unit of heredity

  Familiarity information: FACTOR used as a noun is common.

• FACTOR (verb)
  The verb FACTOR has 3 senses:

1. resolve into factors

2. be a contributing factor

3. consider as relevant when making a decision

  Familiarity information: FACTOR used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FACTOR (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Anything that contributes causally to a result

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Context example:

a number of factors determined the outcome

Hypernyms ("factor" is a kind of...):

cause (events that provide the generative force that is the origin of something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "factor"):

fundamental (any factor that could be considered important to the understanding of a particular business)

parameter (any factor that defines a system and determines (or limits) its performance)

unknown quantity (a factor in a given situation whose bearing and importance is not apparent)

wild card (an unpredictable factor)

releasing factor; releasing hormone; RF (a substance produced by the hypothalamus that is capable of accelerating the secretion of a given hormone by the anterior pituitary gland)

intrinsic factor (a substance produced by the mucosa of the stomach and intestines that is essential for the absorption of vitamin B12)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An abstract part of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

component; constituent; element; factor; ingredient

Context example:

humor: an effective ingredient of a speech

Hypernyms ("factor" is a kind of...):

division; part; section (one of the portions into which something is regarded as divided and which together constitute a whole)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "factor"):

be-all and end-all; be all and end all (the essential factor; the all-important element; the supreme aim)

point (a geometric element that has position but no extension)

plot element (a component or element of the plot of a story)

Derivation:

factorize (resolve (a polynomial) into factors)

Sense 3

Meaning:

One of two or more integers that can be exactly divided into another integer

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Synonyms:

divisor; factor

Context example:

what are the 4 factors of 6?

Hypernyms ("factor" is a kind of...):

integer; whole number (any of the natural numbers (positive or negative) or zero)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "factor"):

prime factor (the prime factors of a quantity are all of the prime quantities that will exactly divide the given quantity)

equivalent-binary-digit factor (the average number of binary digits needed to express one radix digit in a numeration system that is not binary; on the average a number that can be expressed in N decimal digits takes 3.3N binary digits)

common divisor; common factor; common measure (an integer that divides two (or more) other integers evenly)

Derivation:

factor (resolve into factors)

factorize (resolve (a polynomial) into factors)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

agent; broker; factor

Hypernyms ("factor" is a kind of...):

bourgeois; businessperson (a capitalist who engages in industrial commercial enterprise)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "factor"):

estate agent; house agent; land agent; real estate agent; real estate broker (a person who is authorized to act as an agent for the sale of land)

travel agent (someone who sells or arranges trips or tours for customers)

syndic (one appointed to represent a city or university or corporation in business transactions)

stockbroker (an agent in the buying and selling of stocks and bonds)

ship broker (an agent for the ship owner; obtains cargo and may arrange for its loading or discharge)

investment banker; underwriter (a banker who deals chiefly in underwriting new securities)

general agent; insurance agent; insurance broker; underwriter (an agent who sells insurance)

auctioneer (an agent who conducts an auction)

Holonyms ("factor" is a member of...):

brokerage; brokerage firm; securities firm (a stock broker's business; charges a fee to act as intermediary between buyer and seller)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when multiplied together

Classified under:

Nouns denoting quantities and units of measure

Hypernyms ("factor" is a kind of...):

number (a concept of quantity involving zero and units)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "factor"):

deflator (a statistical factor designed to remove the effect of inflation; inflation adjusted variables are in constant dollars)

conversion factor (factor by which a quantity that is expressed in one set of units must be multiplied in order to convert it into another set of units)

constant of proportionality; factor of proportionality (the constant value of the ratio of two proportional quantities x and y; usually written y = kx, where k is the factor of proportionality)

Derivation:

factor (resolve into factors)

factorize (resolve (a polynomial) into factors)

Sense 6

Meaning:

An independent variable in statistics

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("factor" is a kind of...):

experimental variable; independent variable ((statistics) a variable whose values are independent of changes in the values of other variables)

Sense 7

Meaning:

(genetics) a segment of DNA that is involved in producing a polypeptide chain; it can include regions preceding and following the coding DNA as well as introns between the exons; it is considered a unit of heredity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Synonyms:

cistron; factor; gene

Context example:

genes were formerly called factors

Hypernyms ("factor" is a kind of...):

sequence (serial arrangement in which things follow in logical order or a recurrent pattern)

Domain category:

genetic science; genetics (the branch of biology that studies heredity and variation in organisms)

molecular biology (the branch of biology that studies the structure and activity of macromolecules essential to life (and especially with their genetic role))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "factor"):

allele; allelomorph ((genetics) either of a pair (or series) of alternative forms of a gene that can occupy the same locus on a particular chromosome and that control the same character)

dominant gene (gene that produces the same phenotype in the organism whether or not its allele identical)

holandric gene; Y-linked gene (a gene located on a Y chromosome)

X-linked gene (a gene located on an X chromosome)

transgene (an exogenous gene introduced into the genome of another organism)

suppresser; suppresser gene; suppressor; suppressor gene (a gene that suppresses the phenotypic expression of another gene (especially of a mutant gene))

structural gene (a gene that controls the production of a specific protein or peptide)

repressor gene (gene that prevents a nonallele from being transcribed)

regulator gene; regulatory gene (a gene that produces a repressor substance that inhibits an operator gene)

recessive gene (gene that produces its characteristic phenotype only when its allele is identical)

proto-oncogene (a normal gene that has the potential to become an oncogene)

polygene (a gene that by itself has little effect on the phenotype but which can act together with others to produce observable variations)

oncogene; transforming gene (a gene that disposes normal cells to change into cancerous tumor cells)

operator gene (a gene that activates the production of messenger RNA by adjacent structural genes)

nonallele (genes that are not competitors at the same locus)

mutant gene (a gene that has changed so that the normal transmission and expression of a trait is affected)

modifier; modifier gene (a gene that modifies the effect produced by another gene)

linkage group; linked genes (any pair of genes that tend to be transmitted together)

lethal gene (any gene that has an effect that causes the death of the organism at any stage of life)

homeotic gene (one the genes that are involved in embryologic development)

genetic marker (a specific gene that produces a recognizable trait and can be used in family or population studies)

Holonyms ("factor" is a part of...):

chromosome (a threadlike strand of DNA in the cell nucleus that carries the genes in a linear order)

deoxyribonucleic acid; desoxyribonucleic acid; DNA ((biochemistry) a long linear polymer found in the nucleus of a cell and formed from nucleotides and shaped like a double helix; associated with the transmission of genetic information)

• FACTOR (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Resolve into factors

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

factor; factor in; factor out

Context example:

a quantum computer can factor the number 15

Hypernyms (to "factor" is one way to...):

calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)

Domain category:

arithmetic (the branch of pure mathematics dealing with the theory of numerical calculations)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

factor (any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when multiplied together)

factor (one of two or more integers that can be exactly divided into another integer)

factoring; factorisation; factorization ((mathematics) the resolution of an expression into factors such that when multiplied together they give the original expression)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be a contributing factor

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

make things factor into a company's profitability

Hypernyms (to "factor" is one way to...):

add; bestow; bring; contribute; impart; lend (bestow a quality on)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Consider as relevant when making a decision

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

factor; factor in; factor out

Context example:

You must factor in the recent developments

Hypernyms (to "factor" is one way to...):

consider; study (give careful consideration to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

An inhibitor of the receptor tyrosine kinase Met (hepatocyte growth factor receptor) with potential antineoplastic activity.

(MET Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor EMD 1204831, NCI Thesaurus)

Specifically, greater consumption of saturated fats (found mostly in foods of animal origin) was associated with greater weight in people who carried this genetic factor.

(International Research Team Finds Correlation Between Genetics and Obesity Is Modified by Diet, U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Many other factors also change the ground level, such as the movement of tectonic plates, volcanic activity, high- and low-pressure weather systems, and Earth's slow rebound from the last ice age.

(Sierras Lost Water Weight, Grew Taller During Drought, NASA)

This gene plays a regulatory role in the modulation of cell-surface receptors and hepatocyte growth factor interactions.

(MET Gene, NCI Thesaurus)

ABX-EGF binds to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and may block tumor cell growth.

(ABX-EGF, NCI Dictionary)

ABT-869 blocks the action of several growth factors.

(ABT-869, NCI Dictionary)

The scientists found that hydraulic failure is universal when trees die, while carbon starvation is a contributing factor roughly half the time.

(What's killing trees during droughts?, National Science Foundation)

One of the key factors lies in the soil.

(Corn better used as food than biofuel, National Science Foundation)

The new study, however, adjusted for many of these factors, and still found that eggs may be risky for health.

(Eggs No Longer Part of a Healthy Diet?, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Menatetrenone may act by modulating the signalling of certain tyrosine kinases, thereby affecting several transcription factors including c-myc and c-fos.

(Menatetrenone, NCI Thesaurus)