faction
fac·tion/ˈfæk.ʃən/noun
faction is spelled F-A-C-T-I-O-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables (fac·tion). It appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, 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…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of faction is factions.
How many letters and syllables are in faction?
| Letters | 7: F-A-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fac·tion |
| In writing | 6.2 times per million words; the 9,735th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is faction?
Faction appears 6.2 times per million words in written English, the 9,735th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce faction?
- /ˈfæk.ʃən/
- [ˈfæk.ʃən] ~ [ˈfæk.ʃn̩]
Faction has 2 syllables, split fac·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-faction.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of faction
- factions plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does faction mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
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.
- 2
Strife; discord.
- 3
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
- 4
The facts found in fiction.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Faction in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | faction |
| German | Fraktion, Flügel, Seite , Spaltung |
| Portuguese | facção, fação |
| Spanish | facción, valía |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does faction come from?
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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).