Faction

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Faction \Fac"tion\ (f[a^]k"sh[u^]n), n. [L. factio a doing, a
     company of persons acting together, a faction: cf. F. faction
     See {Fashion}.]
     1. (Anc. Hist.) One of the divisions or parties of
        charioteers (distinguished by their colors) in the games
        of the circus.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A party, in political society, combined or acting in
        union, in opposition to the government, or state; --
        usually applied to a minority, but it may be applied to a
        majority; a combination or clique of partisans of any
        kind, acting for their own interests, especially if
        greedy, clamorous, and reckless of the common good.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Tumult; discord; dissension.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              They remained at Newbury in great faction among
              themselves.                           --Clarendon.
  
     Syn: Combination; clique; junto. See {Cabal}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  faction
       n 1: a clique (often secret) that seeks power usually through
            intrigue [syn: {cabal}, {junto}, {camarilla}]
       2: a dissenting clique [syn: {sect}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  207 Moby Thesaurus words for "faction":
     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