faction

1 a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through intrigue [syn: cabal, junto, camarilla]

2 a dissenting clique [syn: sect]

English

Pronunciation

/fækʃən/ or /fækʃn/

• Rhymes: -ækʃən

Etymology 1

factio, noun of process from perfect passive participle factus, from facere to do, to make

Noun

1. A group of people who express a shared belief or opinion different from people who are not part of the group.
2. Strife; discord.
   • 1805, Englisches Lesebuch Für Kaufleute, Johann Georg Cleminius, pg. 188:

     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.

   • 2001, "Concord and Peace": A Rhetorical Analysis of the First Letter of Clement With an Emphasis on the Language of Unity and Sedition, Odd Magne Bakke, publ. Mohr Siebeck, ISBN 3161476379, pg. 89:

     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.

Translations

• Finnish: ryhmä
• Slovene: frakcija
• Telugu: ముఠా (muTaa)

Spanish: ho-el

Related terms

• -faction
• factional
• factor
• splinter group

Etymology 2

Noun

1. A form of literature, film etc., that treats real people or events as if they were fiction; a mix of fact and fiction

Related terms

• fact
• fiction

Faction or factionalism can refer to:

• Political faction, a group of people connected by a shared belief or opinion within a larger group. For example Elizabeth's faction
• Faction (literature), a type of historical novel rooted in fact
• Faction (Planescape), political factions in the game, Planescape
• Guild Wars: Factions, a computer game developed by ArenaNet
• FACTION 28, a music channel on SIRIUS Satellite Radio
• The Faction, a Punk rock band.

See also

• Political party
• Sectarianism
• Rival (disambiguation)
• Common good
• Representation (politics)
• Centrism
• E pluribus unum
• Division (vote)
• Separatism

American Party, Anti-Monopoly Party, Bull Moose Party, Communist Party, Conservative Party, Constitutional Union Party, Democratic Party, Democratic-Republican Party, Farmer-Labor Party, Federalist Party, Free Soil Party, Greenback Party, Know-Nothing Party, Labour Party, Liberal Party, Liberal Republican Party, Liberty Party, National Republican Party, Populist Party, Progressive Party, Prohibition Party, Republican Party, Socialist Labor Party, Socialist Party, Socialist Workers Party, Tammany Hall, Tory Party, Whig Party, affiliation, age group, aggressiveness, antagonism, argumentation, band, battalion, bellicosity, belligerence, bevy, bickering, bloc, body, branch, breakaway group, brigade, bunch, cabal, cadre, camarilla, camp, cast, caucus, church, circle, city hall, clannishness, clanship, clash, clashing, clique, cliqueyness, cliquishness, cliquism, coalition, cohort, combativeness, combine, communion, community, company, complement, conflict, contention, contentiousness, contingent, contradiction, controversy, corps, coterie, covey, crew, crowd, denomination, denominationalism, detachment, detail, difference, disaccord, disaccordance, disagreement, discord, discordance, discordancy, discrepancy, disharmony, disparity, dissension, dissent, dissidence, dissonance, disunion, disunity, divergence, diversity, division, esprit de corps, ethnic group, ethnocentricity, exclusiveness, factionalism, factiousness, fellowship, flak, fleet, gang, group, grouping, groupment, in-group, inaccordance, inequality, infighting, interest, interest group, intrigue, irascibility, irritability, jarring, junta, junto, litigiousness, lobby, machine, major party, minor party, minority group, mob, movement, multiple party system, negation, offshoot, one-party system, opposition, opposition party, oppugnancy, order, organization, out-group, outfit, pack, part, partiality, partisan spirit, partisanism, partisanship, party, party in power, party spirit, peer group, persuasion, phalanx, platoon, political machine, political party, posse, pressure group, pugnacity, quarrelsomeness, regiment, religious order, repugnance, rift, ring, rupture, salon, schism, school, sect, sectarianism, sectarism, sectionalism, sedition, segment, set, shrewishness, side, silent majority, society, splinter, splinter group, splinter party, split, squad, stable, strife, string, team, third party, tribe, troop, troupe, two-party system, unharmoniousness, variance, variety, version, vocal minority, wing