fact
[fakt]
- something that actually exists; reality; truth: Your fears have no basis in fact.
- something known to exist or to have happened: Space travel is now a fact.
- a truth known by actual experience or observation; something known to be true: Scientists gather facts about plant growth.
- something said to be true or supposed to have happened: The facts given by the witness are highly questionable.
- Law. Often facts. an actual or alleged event or circumstance, as distinguished from its legal effect or consequence.Compare question of fact, question of law.
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- after the fact, Law. after the commission of a crime: an accessory after the fact.
- before the fact, Law. prior to the commission of a crime: an accessory before the fact.
- in fact, actually; really; indeed: In fact, it was a wonder that anyone survived.
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Origin of fact
1530–40; < Latin factum something done, deed, noun use of neuter of factus done, past participle of facere to do1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for facts
Contemporary Examples
Of course, to call out pinkwashing is not to deny the facts.
In a country where talk is “cheap” and opinions are “a dime a dozen,” we give the facts special privileges and special status.
But sometimes, the quest for facts lets us down, or leads us astray, and leaves us worse off than before, not better.
Hitchcock always insisted the scene was important, that “the public has to have the facts.”
Facts concern what really is happening to us; truths, who we really are.
Historical Examples
Humans are funniest when they weep and tremble before, like you say, 'the facts in the case.'
The SpendersHarry Leon Wilson
"Nonsense," he laughed, with the air of a man certain of his facts.
VivietteWilliam J. Locke
All these answers, were in truth no replies at all, for they did not disprove the facts.
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
It can make constant progress when it keeps abreast of all the facts.
I mention these facts only because they help me to make myself clearer.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
fact
- an event or thing known to have happened or existed
- a truth verifiable from experience or observation
- a piece of informationget me all the facts of this case
- law (often plural) an actual event, happening, etc, as distinguished from its legal consequences. Questions of fact are decided by the jury, questions of law by the court or judge
- philosophy a proposition that may be either true or false, as contrasted with an evaluative statement
- after the fact criminal law after the commission of the offencean accessory after the fact
- before the fact criminal law before the commission of the offence
- as a matter of fact, in fact or in point of fact in reality or actuality
- fact of life an inescapable truth, esp an unpleasant one
- the fact of the matter the truth
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin factum something done, from factus made, from facere to make
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for facts
fact
n.
1530s, "action," especially "evil deed," from Latin factum "event, occurrence," literally "thing done," neuter past participle of facere "to do" (see factitious). Usual modern sense of "thing known to be true" appeared 1630s, from notion of "something that has actually occurred." Facts of life "harsh realities" is from 1854; specific sense of "human sexual functions" first recorded 1913.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with facts
fact
In addition to the idiom beginning with fact
- facts of life
also see:
- after the fact
- in fact
- is that a fact
- matter of fact
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The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.