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FACTIOUS

Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 11:48 pm
by Dr. Goodword

• factious •

Pronunciation: fæk-shês • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Adjective

Meaning: Troubled by internal dissention, especially disputes among factions within a group or organization.

Notes: Today's Good Word is an adjective based on the same stem we find in faction. Factions are, of course, distinguished by differences of opinions and such differences often cause friction. The adverb is simply factiously and the noun, factiousness. Do not confuse this adjective with fractious "argumentative, stubborn, peevish"; the R makes a significant difference. This word refers mostly to individuals or things as a whole; factious refers to internal disharmony between parts or partisan factions.

In Play: Internal conflicts arising from friction among factions beg for today's Good Word: "The faculty council has become so factious that it is impossible for it to come to any agreement." It would be difficult to find an organization without some degree of factiousness: "If the United States is a melting pot of cultures, the process of melting is a factious one, indeed."

Word History: Today's word is a modest adaptation of Latin factiosus "factious, seditious", based on factio(n) "faction, party, partisanship". Both these words are based on factus, the past participle of facere "do, make". This Latin word goes back to the Proto-Indo-European root dho-/dhe "do, make" which came to English as do and words derived from it, such as deed (something done) and doom (judgment: a done deed?) The same root turns up in the name of the Russian parliament, the Duma, probably from the same sense of "judgment". In Greek we see it in thema "proposition", which appears in several English words borrowed from Greek, including theme and thesis. (There was nothing factious in T. P. Duffy's decision to suggest this Good Word; we all agree it was a good idea.)

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 12:50 am
by Perry Lassiter
Modern American factions are easily found in both parties - right, left, moderate. The latter tolerate each other, but the extremists on both ends of the spectrum consider centrists as moderately radical.

Biblical illustration: I once went through First Corinthians to count the number of factions. I found NINE! When you consider this must have been a small church in those early days, it could be illstrated by crazed glass.

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 5:30 am
by MTC
Headline:

FRACTIOUS FACTIONS FOMENT FACTITIOUS FACTOIDS

fac·ti·tious (fk-tshs)
adj.
1. Produced artificially rather than by a natural process.
2. Lacking authenticity or genuineness; sham: speculators responsible for the factitious value of some stocks.

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[From Latin factcius, from factus, past participle of facere, to make; see dh- in Indo-European roots.]

fac·titious·ly adv.
fac·titious·ness n.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved

fac·toid (fktoid)
n.
1. A piece of unverified or inaccurate information that is presented in the press as factual, often as part of a publicity effort, and that is then accepted as true because of frequent repetition: "What one misses finally is what might have emerged beyond both facts and factoidsa profound definition of the Marilyn Monroe phenomenon" (Christopher Lehmann-Haupt).
2. Usage Problem A brief, somewhat interesting fact

.................................................................................

Philip: Considering fractious human nature and the numerous possibile ways a larger group can be divided into smaller factions, it's a wonder you found only nine. I'm surprised there weren't more!

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 12:54 pm
by Philip Hudson
MTC: You mistook Perry for me. He might be riled but I am honored. I hope Perry doesn't study the church I belong to. The Corinthians were pikers (def 4 from Wiktionary) compared to us. I make up an entire faction by myself.

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 1:34 pm
by LukeJavan8
I make up an entire faction by myself.

Hear! Hear! Me too.

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:22 pm
by MTC
Admit it, Philip. You and Perry are really Multiple Personalities in one body. Come to think of it, Luke might be the third.

Scary!

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 7:06 pm
by Slava
Headline:

FRACTIOUS FACTIONS FOMENT FACTITIOUS FACTOIDS
Update:

FACTIOUS FRACTIOUS FACTIONS FOMENT FACTITIOUS FACTOIDS

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:53 pm
by LukeJavan8
Admit it, Philip. You and Perry are really Multiple Personalities in one body. Come to think of it, Luke might be the third.

Scary!

Scary, Be afraid, very afraid ! ! !

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:23 pm
by Philip Hudson
Slava: Are we playing an alliteration game or are there other rules? If it is just straight alliteration, inserting alliterative words that somehow might fit in a series of words and make some kind of sense, I want to contribute. But if there are rules, I need to know them.

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 11:31 pm
by Slava
Slava: Are we playing an alliteration game or are there other rules? If it is just straight alliteration, inserting alliterative words that somehow might fit in a series of words and make some kind of sense, I want to contribute. But if there are rules, I need to know them.
No rules I know of. I just felt adding the word of the day to the phrase made sense, and worked rather well in general.

What are you getting at? I don't really understand your question.

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 12:23 am
by Philip Hudson
Slava: In my family we make alliterative phrases by adding, in turn, another word to the string that might still make sense as a phrase. The making sense part is loosely applied. As an example: "goose grease" becomes "granulated goose grease" which becomes in turn "gobs of granulated goose grease" and so on. Some words like "of" are allowed if they don't disrupt the flow of the alliterations. The string I showed above has gone on for years and has taken in many of the words beginning with "g".

It is mind numbing, but somehow satisfying to me and my kin. OKAY, we are not normal people.

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 7:41 am
by MTC
My, how "ef"fluent we Goodwordians are! A punny lot to be sure. But not to be taken littorally, of course.

Philip's family activity gives "chain letter" a whole new meaning, does it not? The mind boggles at the prospect of years of alliteration. A riff of ef's perhaps, but the monotonous drumbeat of "years?" One begins to feel the GDP slipping...

Re: FACTIOUS

Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2013 2:44 pm
by wurdpurrson
Well played, all - gives some relief to the National factiousness fancied by the fascinated but fractured media.