factor (faktor)

[Formerly also fact our; = F. facteur Sp. Pg. factor = It. fattore = D. faktoor = G. factor = Dan. Sw.faktor, IMG:content-1007.png:[blocks in formation] to collect rents, etc. Mr. White, a Welsh man, who has been many years factor on the estate of Calder, drank tea with us last night. Boswell, Journal (ed. 1807), p. 110. 31. An agent or a deputy generally. Therefor muste they be more cleane than the other, for they are the fact ours , or bayliffes of God. Bp. Bale , Apology, fol. 74. Percy is but my factor , good my lord, To engro up glorious deeds on my behalf. Shak., 1 Hen. IV., iii. 2. 4. In American law, in some of the United States, a person charged as a garnishee.-5. In math., one of the two or more numbers, expre ions, or quantities which when multiplied together produce a given product: as, 6 and 3 are factors of 18. As every product can be divided by any of its factors without remainder, factor may also be defined as an expre ion or quantity by which another expre ion or quantity may be divided without a remainder. 6. One of several circumstances, elements, or influences which tend to the production of a given result. There is also a logical attitude which is called Attention, itself the product of feeling, and one of the nece ary factors in Perception. G. H. Lewes, Probs. of Life and Mind, Int., I. ii. § 46. As to the cause of the limitation of the [deep-sea] faunæ, it is claimed that "light is the most powerful factor amongst all the agents which influence life upon the earth." Smithsonian Report , 1833, p. 701. Allot rio us, bipartient, consequent, extraneous, etc., factor. See the adjectives. - Division by factors. See division. Factors' Act, a statute of New York (Laws of 1830, c. 179), the effect of which is to make merchandise liable for money advanced or security given on the faith thereof by consignors or purchasers, by enacting that the person in whose name it is shipped, the holder of the bill of lading, custom-house permit, or warehouse receipt, or the person having po e ion of the merchandise, shall, within certain limits, be deemed the true owner for such purposes. Similar statutes in other jurisdictions are variously known. - Factors' Acts, English statutes of 1823 (4 Geo. IV., с. 83), 1825 (6 Geo. IV., с. 94), 1842 (5 and 6 Vict., c. 39), and 1877 (40 and 41 Vict., c. 39), which preserve the lien of consignees upon shipments for advances, etc., and make bills of lading available as security to the extent of such lien. Integrating factor, a quantity by which a given quantity is multiplied in order to render it an exact integral: better called a multiplier. - Interim factor. See interim. Primary factor, a factor of a holomorphic function having one root.-Prime factor, a factor which cannot be divided without remainder by anything except itself and unity.