— Fac"tious*ly, adv. — Fac"tious- ness, n.
Factitious
(Fac*ti"tious) a. [L. factitius, fr. facere to make. See Fact, and cf. Fetich.] Made by art,
in distinction from what is produced by nature; artificial; sham; formed by, or adapted to, an artificial or
conventional, in distinction from a natural, standard or rule; not natural; as, factitious cinnabar or jewels; a
factitious taste. — Fac-ti"tious*ly, adv. — Fac*ti"tious-ness, n.
He acquires a factitious propensity, he forms an incorrigible habit, of desultory reading.
De Quincey. Syn. — Unnatural. — Factitious, Unnatural. Anything is unnatural when it departs in any way from
its simple or normal state; it is factitious when it is wrought out or wrought up by labor and effort, as, a
factitious excitement. An unnatural demand for any article of merchandise is one which exceeds the
ordinary rate of consumption; a factitious demand is one created by active exertions for the purpose. An
unnatural alarm is one greater than the occasion requires; a factitious alarm is one wrought up with care
and effort.
Factitive
(Fac"ti*tive) a. [See Fact.]
1. Causing; causative.
2. (Gram.) Pertaining to that relation which is proper when the act, as of a transitive verb, is not merely
received by an object, but produces some change in the object, as when we say, He made the water
wine.
Sometimes the idea of activity in a verb or adjective involves in it a reference to an effect, in the way of
causality, in the active voice on the immediate objects, and in the passive voice on the subject of such
activity. This second object is called the factitive object.
J. W. Gibbs. Factive
(Fac"tive) a. Making; having power to make. [Obs.] "You are . . . factive, not destructive."
Bacon.
Facto
(||Fac"to) adv. [L., ablative of factum deed, fact.] (Law) In fact; by the act or fact.
De facto. (Law) See De facto.
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, form 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.
