Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Factor \Fac"tor\, n. [L. factor a doer: cf. F. facteur a factor.
   See {Fact}.]
   1. (Law) One who transacts business for another; an agent; a
      substitute; especially, a mercantile agent who buys and
      sells goods and transacts business for others in
      commission; a commission merchant or consignee. He may be
      a home factor or a foreign factor. He may buy and sell in
      his own name, and he is intrusted with the possession and
      control of the goods; and in these respects he differs
      from a broker. --Story. --Wharton.

            My factor sends me word, a merchant's fled That owes
            me for a hundred tun of wine.         --Marlowe.

   2. A steward or bailiff of an estate. [Scot.] --Sir W. Scott.

   3. (Math.) One of the elements or quantities which, when
      multiplied together, from a product.

   4. One of the elements, circumstances, or influences which
      contribute to produce a result; a constituent.

            The materal and dynamical factors of nutrition. --H.
                                                  Spencer.

Factor \Fac"tor\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Factored} (-t?rd); p. pr.
   & vb. n. {Factoring}.] (Mach.)
   To resolve (a quantity) into its factors.

Source : WordNet®

factor
     n 1: anything that contributes causally to a result; "a number of
          factors determined the outcome"
     2: an abstract part of something; "jealousy was a component of
        his character"; "two constituents of a musical composition
        are melody and harmony"; "the grammatical elements of a
        sentence"; "a key factor in her success"; "humor: an
        effective ingredient of a speech" [syn: {component}, {constituent},
         {element}, {ingredient}]
     3: any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when
        multiplied together
     4: one of two or more integers that can be exactly divided into
        another integer; "what are the 4 factors of 6?" [syn: {divisor}]
     5: a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for
        a commission [syn: {agent}, {broker}]
     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; "genes were
        formerly called factors" [syn: {gene}, {cistron}]

factor
     v : resolve into factors; "a quantum computer can factor the
         number 15" [syn: {factor in}, {factor out}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

factor
     
        A quantity which is multiplied by another quantity.  See
        {coefficient of X}.  See also {divisor}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]