ex post facto
[eks pohst fak-toh]
- from or by subsequent action; subsequently; retrospectively; retroactively.
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- having retroactive force; made or done subsequently: an ex post facto law.
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Origin of ex post facto
1625–35; < Latin: from a thing done afterward, from what is done afterward
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ex post facto
Historical Examples
They themselves got on a higher level, where ex-post-facto parentages were possible.
Somehow GoodWilliam de Morgan
No Bill of attainder, or ex-post-facto law, shall be passed.
North America, Volume II (of 2)Anthony Trollope
No bill of attainder, or ex-post-facto law, shall he passed.
Elements of Civil GovernmentAlexander L. Peterman
ex post facto
- having retrospective effectan ex post facto law
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Word Origin
C17: from Latin ex from + post afterwards + factus done, from facere to do
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ex post facto
from Medieval Latin ex postfacto, "from what is done afterwards."
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ex post facto
[(eks pohst fak-toh)]
An explanation or regulation concocted after the event, sometimes misleading or unjust: “Your ex post facto defense won't stand up in court.” (See ex post facto law.) From Latin, meaning “after the deed.”
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ex post facto
[(eks pohst fak-toh)]
A descriptive term for an explanation or a law that is made up after an event and then applied to it: “The chairman's description of his plan sounds like an ex post facto attempt to justify an impulsive action.” Ex post facto is Latin for “from after the deed.”
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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.