refactor
verb, noun
refactor is spelled R-E-F-A-C-T-O-R: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 109,062nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, refactor means “To rewrite existing source code in order to improve its readability, reusability or structure without affecting its meaning or behaviour” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in refactor?
| Letters | 8: R-E-F-A-C-T-O-R |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 13 million words; the 109,062nd 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 refactor?
Refactor appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 109,062nd 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).
Forms of refactor
- refactors present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- refactoring participle, present
- refactored participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does refactor mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To rewrite existing source code in order to improve its readability, reusability or structure without affecting its meaning or behaviour.
The code works, but I must refactor it before it is production quality.
- 2
To rewrite existing text in order to improve its readability, reusability or structure without intentionally affecting its meaning. Similar to, but sometimes involving more extensive restructuring than, copy editing.
Two significant activities which to contribute to community projects, such as Wikipedia, are to refactor complicated articles into simpler ones, and to refactor duplicated content into reusable templates.
noun
- 1
The process by which source code is refactored.
We don't have time for a major refactor; we're shipping in two weeks.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Refactor in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (computing) to rewrite existing source code in order to improve its readability:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | refactoriser |
| Spanish | refactorizar |
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 refactor come from?
From re- + factor.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).