Faction, fak′shun, n. a company of persons associated or acting together, mostly used in a bad sense: a contentious party in a state or society: dissension.—adj. Fac′tional.—ns. Fac′tionary, a member of a faction; Fac′tionist.—adj. Fac′tious, turbulent: disloyal.—adv. Fac′tiously.—n. Fac′tiousness. [L. factionem—facĕre, to do.]
Factitious, fak-tish′us, adj. made by art, in opposition to what is natural or spontaneous: conventional.—adv. Facti′tiously.—n. Facti′tiousness.—adjs. Fac′titive, causative; Fac′tive (obs.), making. [L. factitius—facĕre, to make.]
Factor, fak′tor, n. a doer or transactor of business for another: one who buys and sells goods for others, on commission: (Scot.) an agent managing heritable estates for another: (math.) one of two or more parts, which, when multiplied together, result in a given number—e.g. 6 and 4 are factors of 24: an element in the composition of anything, or in bringing about a certain result.—ns. Fac′torage, the fees or commission of a factor.—adj. Factō′rial, of or pertaining to a factor.—v.t. Fac′torise (U.S.), to warn not to pay or give up goods: to attach the effects of a debtor in the hands of a third person.—ns. Fac′torship; Fac′tory, a manufactory: a trading settlement in a distant country.—Judicial factor, a person appointed by the Court to manage the estate of a person under some incapacity. [L.,—facĕre.]
Factotum, fak-tō′tum, n. a person employed to do all kinds of work for another. [Low L.,—L. fac, imper. of facĕre, to do, totum, all.]
Facture, fak′tūr, n. the act or the result of making, workmanship.
Facula, fak′ū-la, n. a spot brighter than the rest of the surface, sometimes seen on the sun's disc:—pl. Fac′ulæ. [L., 'a torch,' dim. of fax, torch.]
Faculty, fak′ul-ti, n. facility or power to act: any particular ability or aptitude: an original power of the mind: any physical capability or function: personal quality or endowment: right, authority, or privilege to act: license: a department of learning at a university, or the professors constituting it: the members of a profession: executive ability.—adj. Fac′ultātive, optional: of or pertaining to a faculty.—Court of Faculties, a court established by Henry VIII., whereby authority is given to the Archbishop of Canterbury to grant dispensations and faculties. [Fr.,—L. facultatem—facilis, easy.]
Facundity, fa-kun′di-ti, n. (obs.) eloquence.
Fad, fad, n. a weak or transient hobby, crotchet, or craze: any unimportant belief or practice intemperately urged.—adjs. Fad′dish, given to fads—also Fad′dy.—ns. Fad′disnness; Fad′dism; Fad′dist, one who is a slave to some fad. [Ety. dub.]
Fadaise, fa-dāz′, n. a trifling thought or expression. [Fr.]