View source for Factious - fractious

Beware a typographical error caused by omitting (or adding) an '-r-'. There are also errors caused by mis-reading  '-n-' for '-u-' in both the words ''''factious'/'faction'''<nowiki>'</nowiki> and ''''fractious'/'fraction'''<nowiki>'</nowiki>. (This warning about typos, of course, applies to such derived words as the [[adjective]]s '''factional'''/'''fractional''' and the [[adverb]]s '''factionally'''/'''fractionally''', etc.)
*'''Factious''' is an [[adjective]] meaning 'to do with [a] faction'; 'characterized by [[partisan]] dissent'.
**'''Faction''' is a [[noun]] meaning 'an organized [sub-]group in religion or politics'; 'a party within a party', 'a group within a broader organization [such as a Church or a political party] which promotes an unorthodox view or policy'.
::::Don't confuse '''factious''' with [[factitious - fictitious|factitious]].
*The [[adjective]] '''Fractious''' is mostly used of children, although it may be used [[figurative]]ly of adults whom one wants to characterize as childish. It means 'grumpy', 'cross', 'peevish', 'unruly', and [[denote]]s a characteristically stubborn and cross-grained behaviour in a small child.
**The [[noun]] '''fraction''' is nowadays most commonly used to mean 'an arithmetical unit that is not an integer; one of those portions of a whole number that is expressed by an '''enumerator''' over [our convention is to use a straight line between them] a [[Denomination|denominator]]. However, the word is sometimes used with much the same meaning as 'part', as in 'His contribution will cover only a (small) '''fraction''' of the cost'. This  is the usual implication of the [[adjective]] '''fractional''': the professional road cycling team Sky, for example,  attributes much of its success to '''fractional''' improvements in small details.
:The [[etymological]], and archaic, meaning of '''fraction''' is 'a breaking'.
:::::(''[[OED]]'' records no such word as <s>fractitious</s>.)






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