Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group.
- n. Conflict within an organization or nation; internal dissension: "Our own beloved country . . . is now afflicted with faction and civil war” ( Abraham Lincoln).
- n. A form of literature or filmmaking that treats real people or events as if they were fictional or uses real people or events as essential elements in an otherwise fictional rendition.
- n. A literary work or film that is a mix of fact and fiction.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A group of people, especially within a political organization, who express a shared belief or opinion different from people who are not part of the group.
- n. Strife; discord.
- n. A form of literature, film etc., that treats real people or events as if they were fiction; a mix of fact and fiction
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. One of the divisions or parties of charioteers (distinguished by their colors) in the games of the circus.
- n. A party, in political society, combined or acting in union, in opposition to the government, or state; -- usually applied to a minority, but it may be applied to a majority; a combination or clique of partisans of any kind, acting for their own interests, especially if greedy, clamorous, and reckless of the common good.
- n. Tumult; discord; dissension.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A party of persons having a common end in view; usually, such a party seeking by irregular means to bring about changes in government or in the existing state of affairs, or in any association of which they form part; a combination of persons using subversive or perverse methods of promoting their own selfish or partizan views or interests, especially in matters of state.
- n. Combined disorderly opposition to established authority; turbulence; tumult; dissension.
- n. In Roman antiquity, one of the classes into which the charioteers in the circensian games were divided, one of each contending in a race.
- n. Synonyms Combination, Party, etc. See cabal.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue
- n. a dissenting clique
Etymologies
Examples
-
James Madison in the Federalist Papers pointed out that what he called faction -- the word we would use now is maybe "ultrapartisanship" -- can stir passions that come about because of relatively small differences, and then can unleash an amount of energy that is seemingly out of all proportion to the cause of the disagreement.
-
"Occasionally, the term faction is used as a synonym for political party, but" with opprobrious sense, conveying the imputation of selfish or mischievous ends or turbulent or unscrupulous methods ", according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
-
I find it fairly ridiculous that the defacto leader of the “progressive” netroots faction is a middling film producer.
-
Because there is a certain faction within the Democratic party (and some independents) that really hates the idea of political fights and confrontation.
Matthew Yglesias » Dodd Defends Filibuster, Calls for More “Civility”
-
The solution to these mysteries involves yet another faction from the Company novels, but I won't reveal just which so as not to spoil the surprise.
REVIEW: Not Less Than Gods and The Women of Nell Gwynne's by Kage Baker
-
Thus, a certain faction of the left engages in the very same behavior they accuse the right of regarding Iran, etc. Ironic and unproductive at the same time.
-
That militant faction is what you call “Al Qaeda”.
-
The secret to a decent society lies in BALANCE — in which the power of every faction is subject to checks by others.
-
It appears that the liberal faction is not going to be happy until the government controls every single thing in this country.
-
It appears that there is a certain faction in America who now believe our democratic republic means either the Republicans are in control or we impeach the Democrat.
Think Progress » ‘Impeach Obama’ billboard ‘not meant to allege any impeachable offense.’
vanishedone commented on the word faction
'"Faction" is a hybrid genre, aiming at the factual accuracy of journalism on the one hand and the literary form of the novel on the other. There is a fundamental tension however between those two aims, given the constraints which factual accuracy places on characterization, plot, and thematic exploration characteristic of the novel. Further, faction cannot be defended on the grounds that factual accuracy is a literary value in faction. Finally, some aspects of faction, such as its inability to refer to sources or provide an analytic framework for a narrative, hinder rather than facilitate the communication of facts.'
~ abstract of 'The Case Against Faction' in Philosophy and Literature 32, pp. 347-358
November 17, 2008