Ernest Barker
Synonyms
Examples of faction in a Sentence
Patrick Kingsley, New York Times, 19 Nov. 2023
Many who were guerilla fighters went back to their previous factions and continued battling.
—Sarah E. Parkinson, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2023
In the 1990s, Hezbollah adopted a more formal political role in Lebanon and has become a prominent faction in the country's ruling alliance.
—James Hookway, WSJ, 9 Nov. 2023
That combination fueled conjecture that Cameron would be able to bridge the Republican Party's warring factions.
—Tal Axelrod, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2023
Over the next five weeks, the ship split into warring factions that saw men disappearing at night, crew members tied up and tossed overboard to drown, and engine equipment sabotaged, according to Chinese news reports and court records.
—Los Angeles Times, 7 Nov. 2023
But some within Nasrallah’s own movement, as well as armed factions around the region, seek to open a new front against Israel.
—Ellen Francis, Washington Post, 3 Nov. 2023
Yet in 2006, Hamas participated in and won the Palestinian Legislative Council elections, going on to form a unity government with Fatah, the dominant faction of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
—Cole Bunzel, Foreign Affairs, 2 Nov. 2023
Formed in the aftermath of the 1982 Lebanon War, Hezbollah was established as an umbrella group for the country’s disparate Shiite factions.
—James Hookway, WSJ, 25 Oct. 2023
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'faction.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Noun
borrowed from Middle French & Latin; Middle French faccion, borrowed from Latin factiōn-, factiō "act of making, social set, band, group, self-seeking political group," from facere "to make, bring about, place, classify" + -tiōn-, -tiō, suffix of verbal action — more at fact
Note: A doublet of faction is fashion entry 1, from the Gallo-Romance outcome of Latin factiō, which maintains only the meaning "act of making," sparsely attested outside of early Latin except in legal use.
Noun combining form
borrowed from Latin -factiōn-, -factiō (as in satisfactiōn-, satisfactiō satisfaction)
Dictionary Entries Near faction
Cite this Entry
“Faction.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/faction. Accessed 28 Nov. 2023.
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More from Merriam-Webster on faction
Nglish: Translation of faction for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of faction for Arabic Speakers
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about faction
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