Definition of "faction" []

• A group of persons forming a cohesive, usually contentious minority within a larger group. (noun)
• Conflict within an organization or nation; internal dissension: "Our own beloved country . . . is now afflicted with faction and civil war” ( Abraham Lincoln). (noun)
• A form of literature or filmmaking that treats real people or events as if they were fictional or uses real people or events as essential elements in an otherwise fictional rendition. (noun)
• A literary work or film that is a mix of fact and fiction. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "James Madison in the Federalist Papers pointed out that what he called faction -- the word we would use now is maybe "ultrapartisanship" -- can stir passions that come about because of relatively small differences, and then can unleash an amount of energy that is seemingly out of all proportion to the cause of the disagreement."
• ""Occasionally, the term faction is used as a synonym for political party, but" with opprobrious sense, conveying the imputation of selfish or mischievous ends or turbulent or unscrupulous methods ", according to the Oxford English Dictionary."
• "I find it fairly ridiculous that the defacto leader of the “progressive” netroots faction is a middling film producer."