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"

one of two or more integers that can be exactly divided into another integer; "what are the 4 factors of 6?"

a businessman who buys or sells for another in exchange for a commission

any of the numbers (or symbols) that form a product when multiplied together

an independent variable in statistics

(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"

resolve into factors; "a quantum computer can factor the number 15"

be a contributing factor; "make things factor into a company's profitability"

consider as relevant when making a decision; "You must factor in the recent developments"