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prime factor

[ prahym fak-ter ]

noun

  1. a prime number that is a factor of another number:

    The prime factors of 18 are 2 and 3.



verb (used with or without object)

  1. Sometimes prime-factor to resolve (a number) into the prime numbers that are its factors:

    This short video shows how to prime factor a number using a tree diagram.

adjective

  1. Sometimes prime-factor relating to or involving prime factors:

    Write out the prime factor expansion for each of the following numbers.

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Other Words From

  • prime fac·to·rize prime-fac·to·rize verb
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Word History and Origins

Origin of prime factor1

First recorded in 1725–35
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Example Sentences

Early bad habits may be the prime factor in this distressing and humiliating difficulty.

Tragic and blood-stained is her history, and this tragedy, perhaps, has been a prime factor in the evolution of her men of worth.

Instinct is a base, a prime factor, part of the matrix of personality.

The anti-slavery party used the case of the "Martyr" Smith as a watchword, and it was a prime factor in hurrying on emancipation.

All her lonely days she had longed for it, and in all her girlish dreams it had been the prime factor.

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prime costprime factorization