Definition of factor

• n. - 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.
• n. - A steward or bailiff of an estate.
• n. - One of the elements or quantities which, when multiplied together, from a product.
• n. - One of the elements, circumstances, or influences which contribute to produce a result; a constituent.
• v. t. - To resolve (a quantity) into its factors.