You may define a word whatever you please in your text, but you cannot state the definition for the common use of the word. This prerogative are for its users,

You may define a word whatever you please in your text, but you cannot state the definition for the common use of the word. This prerogative are for its users, as a group. Dictionaries (which do not define, but only catalogs accepted meaning) defines "factoid" not only different than you do, but also in accordance to the intended meaning of the text [1][2][3]. Some people (specially engineering and math types, myself included) tend to put too much weight in a word morphology to extract its meaning. But linguistics is not that straightforward and meaning for a word can even change over time. [1] Merriam Webster: "an invented fact believed to be true because it appears in print", http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/factoid http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/factoid [2] "A brief or trivial item of news or information." and "An assumption or speculation that is reported and repeated so often that it becomes accepted as fact." http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/factoid?q=factoid http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_eng... [3] Cambridge: "an interesting piece of information" http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/factoid?q=factoid http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/british/factoi...