Etymology Borrowed from Middle French faction, from Latin factiō (“a group of people acting together, a political faction”), noun of process from perfect passive participle factus, from faciō (“do, make”). Doublet of fashion.
1
A group of people, especially within a political organization, which expresses a shared belief or opinion different from people who are not part of the group.
Real factions may be divided into those from interest, from principle, and from affection1748, David Hume, “Of Parties in General — How factions arise and contend.”, in Essays, Moral and Political:
Prejudice has bred a counterprejudice so that now neither faction can nor will see without distortion.1971, Jesse J. Johnson, Black Armed Forces officers, 1736-1971:
1 more example
The Chinese Communist army in Kiangsi province has split into two factions struggling against each other following the purge of the "gang of four" led by Chiang Ching, according to an intelligence report from the Chinese mainland.1976 November 28, “Kiangsi army split into two”, in Free China Weekly, volume XVII, number 47, Taipei, page 3:
2
Strife; discord.
Publick [sic] affairs soon fell into the utmost confusion, and in this state of faction and perplexity, the island continued, until its re-capture by the French in 1779.1805, Johann Georg Cleminius, Englisches Lesebuch für Kaufleute, page 188:
He asks the audience if they believe that they will be more loved by the gods if the city is in a state of faction than if they govern the city with good order and concord.2001, Odd Magne Bakke, "Concord and Peace": A Rhetorical Analysis of the First Letter of Clement With an Emphasis on the Language of Unity and Sedition, publ. Mohr Siebeck, →ISBN, page 89:
Blind genius of faction / Obituary of Jorge Luis Borges, Argentine writer [title]1986 June 16, W. J. Weatherby, “Blind genius of faction”, in The Guardian:
2 more examples
Contemporary reviewers offered different labels in attempts to describe the genre of Schindler's List. Lorna Sage, D.J. Enright and Robert Taubman called it a ‘documentary novel’; Paul Bailey and Gay Firth ‘faction’; […]2000, Sue Vice, Holocaust Fiction, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 93:
[Norman Mailer] was, though, absolutely the daddy of faction, his novels or journalism reporting every conflict from 1939 to Iraq and biographising Americans including John F Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and Neil Armstrong.2007 November 12, Mark Lawson, “The king of faction”, in The Guardian: