Definition of factor

• anything that contributes causally to a result; "a number of factors determined the outcome"
• 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"
• any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when multiplied together