factor of safety
noun · n
Simple meaning
The ratio of the breaking stress of a structure to the estimated maximum stress in ordinary use.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
fakteruhvsayfteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈfæktɚˈʌvˈseɪfti
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
The ratio of the breaking stress of a structure to the estimated maximum stress in ordinary use
n
In engineering, a factor of safety (FoS) or safety factor expresses how much stronger a system is than it needs to be for an intended load.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The ratio of the breaking stress of a structure to the estimated maximum stress in ordinary use
Used this way, factor of safety is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This sense is about measurement, so it is used where accuracy is the point.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Technical/specialist writing
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.