Etymology

factor

fact·or
F4A1C3T1O1R1

Today it means: A doer, maker; a person who does things for another person or organization. Full definition →

Middle English factour ← Anglo-Norman factour ← Latin factor
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*dʰeh₁k-
  3. Proto-Indo-European*dʰh₁kyéti
  4. Proto-Italic*θakjō
  5. Proto-Italic*fakjō
  6. Latinfaciō
  7. Latinfactor
  8. Middle Frenchfacteur
  9. Latinfactor
  10. Anglo-Normanfactour
  11. Middle Englishfactour
  12. English todayfactor

Inherited from Middle English factour, from Middle French facteur, Anglo-Norman factour, and their etymon Latin factor (“a doer, maker, performer”), from factus (“done or made”), perfect passive participle of faciō (“do, make”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.