Faction
Etymology
From Latin “factio,” “a making, a doing, a group of people acting together,” from “facere,” “to do, make.” Strikingly, “factio” is also the source of “fashion” — both descend from the idea of a making or a mode of doing. The political sense carries an old suspicion: a faction is a group that acts together for itself, and the word has rarely been a compliment.
noun · /FAK-shun/
A self-interested group within a larger body that pursues its own aims, often at the expense of the whole.
What it names
Reach for it to name an organized subgroup whose loyalty to itself competes with loyalty to the wider community.
Example
A hardline faction inside the party blocked any compromise on the budget.
Related idea
A faction is a group defined by shared self-interest within a body; partisanship is the loyal attachment to a side that factions run on. A party is meant to serve the public through a program; a faction is a party turned inward, serving mainly itself.