deflactor

Deflactor is a term used in some technical writings to indicate an agent or mechanism that reduces the magnitude of a quantity, signal, or value. It is not a standard term in most fields, and its precise meaning depends on context. In practice, a deflactor generally serves to counteract inflation of units or to compress a measure to a simpler, lower scale.

In economics and statistics the more common term is deflator. A price deflator or deflator index converts nominal measurements into real terms by removing the effects of price changes. Some writers, especially in informal or cross-disciplinary texts, may render deflator as deflactor, but this is nonstandard and can lead to ambiguity. GDP deflator is a common example of a price index used to adjust national accounts.

In computing and data processing, deflation is the process of reducing data size; a software component that performs this operation is sometimes described as a deflator or deflactor in informal documentation. More widely used terms are compressor, deflate routine, or the deflate algorithm; the decompression counterpart is the inflater.

In engineering or physics, a deflactor could refer to a device or mechanism designed to vent or reduce pressure within a system, or to dissipate energy in a controlled way. The exact function would be defined by the application and standards of the relevant field.

Because the term lacks a single, authoritative definition, definitions should be clarified by context when encountered. See also deflator, deflation, inflator, inflate.