faction
Syllables: fac·tion/ˈfæk.ʃən/
faction noun: a group of people, especially within a political organization, which expresses a shared belief or opinion different from people who are not part of the group.
Noun (1)
faction (countable and uncountable, plural factions)
- A group of people, especially within a political organization, which expresses a shared belief or opinion different from people who are not part of the group.
- Real factions may be divided into those from interest, from principle, and from affection1748, David Hume, “Of Parties in General — How factions arise and contend.”, in Essays, Moral and Political
- Prejudice has bred a counterprejudice so that now neither faction can nor will see without distortion.1971, Jesse J. Johnson, Black Armed Forces officers, 1736-1971
- Synonyms:
- fringe
- Strife; discord.
- Publick [sic] affairs soon fell into the utmost confusion, and in this state of faction and perplexity, the island continued, until its re-capture by the French in 1779.1805, Johann Georg Cleminius, Englisches Lesebuch für Kaufleute, page 188
- He asks the audience if they believe that they will be more loved by the gods if the city is in a state of faction than if they govern the city with good order and concord.2001, Odd Magne Bakke, "Concord and Peace": A Rhetorical Analysis of the First Letter of Clement With an Emphasis on the Language of Unity and Sedition, publ. Mohr Siebeck, →ISBN, page 89
Noun (2)
faction (uncountable)
- A form of literature, film etc., that treats real people or events as if they were fiction; a mix of fact and fiction.
- Near-synonym: fictionalization
- Blind genius of faction / Obituary of Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer [title]1986 June 16, W. J. Weatherby, “Blind genius of faction”, in The Guardian
- Synonyms:
- fictionalization
- The facts found in fiction.
faction meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
faction in Hindi
- group of people
- गुट guṭ, दल dal
faction in Tamil
- கோஷ்டி
faction in Marathi
- group of people
- गट gaṭ
faction in Urdu
- دھڑا, گروہ, حزب, ٹولی
More languagesFewer languages
- faction in Bengali
- দলাদলি
- faction in Telugu
- పార్టీ pārṭī
- faction in Malayalam
- വിഭാഗം vibhāgaṁ
- faction in Kannada
- ಒಳಗುಂಪು, ಒಳಪಂಗಡ, ಒಳಪಕ್ಷ, ಒಳ ಒಡಕು
- faction in Arabic
- فَرِيق farīq, زَمْرَة zamra, عُصْبَة ʕuṣba, فَصِيلَة faṣīla
- faction in Indonesian
- faksi
- faction in Vietnamese
- đảng phái
Examples of faction in a sentence
- The radical group voted to divorce itself from the main faction and start an independent movement.
- The trilateral peace conference, between the red faction, blue faction and white faction, went nowhere.
- In this mirror match, both players have chosen to play as the Defenders faction.
Synonyms of faction
Forms of faction
| plural | factions |
|---|
Origin of faction
Borrowed from Middle French faction, from Latin factiō (“a group of people acting together, a political faction”), noun of process from perfect passive participle factus, from faciō (“do, make”). Doublet of fashion.
Blend of fact + fiction.
Words formed from faction
Phrases with faction
Words that rhyme with faction
Questions about faction
- What does faction mean?
- Faction means a group of people, especially within a political organization, which expresses a shared belief or opinion different from people who are not part of the group.
- What is faction in Hindi?
- Faction in Hindi is गुट (guṭ), दल (dal). See Faction meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is faction?
- Faction is a noun.
- How do you pronounce faction?
- Faction is pronounced /ˈfæk.ʃən/.
- What is the plural of faction?
- The plural of faction is factions.
Words near faction in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: faction (page history and authors); faction (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); faction (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Faction (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); పార్టీ (Telugu) (page history and authors); വിഭാഗം (Malayalam) (page history and authors); faction (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “faction.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/faction. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.