fact

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See also: FACT

English

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Etymology

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From Old French fact, from Latin factum (“an act, deed, feat, etc.”); also Medieval Latin for “state, condition, circumstance”; neuter of factus (“done or made”), perfect passive participle of faciō (“do, make”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to put, place, set”). Old/Middle French later evolved it into faict and fait. Doublet of feat.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /fækt/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

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fact (countable and uncountable, plural facts)

  1. Something actual as opposed to invented.
    In this story, the Gettysburg Address is a fact, but the rest is fiction.
    • 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 2, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
      Mother […] considered that the exclusiveness of Peter's circle was due not to its distinction, but to the fact that it was an inner Babylon of prodigality and whoredom, from which every Kensingtonian held aloof, except on the conventional tip-and-run excursions in pursuit of shopping, tea and theatres.
  2. Something which is real.
    Gravity is a fact, not a theory.
  3. Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.
    Let's look at the facts of the case before deciding.
  4. An objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed upon by a substantial number of experts.
    There is no doubting the fact that the Earth orbits the Sun.
  5. Information about a particular subject, especially actual conditions and/or circumstances.
    The facts about space travel.
    Addition facts include 2 + 2 = 4 and 3 + 4 = 7.
  6. (databases) An individual value or measurement at the lowest level of granularity in a data warehouse.
  7. (archaic) Action; the realm of action.
    • 1622, Francis Bacon, The History of the Reign of King Henry the Seventh, page 1:
      After that Richard, the third of that name, king in fact only, but tyrant both in title and regiment […] was […] overthrown and slain at Bosworth Field; there succeeded in the kingdom […] Henry the Seventh.
  8. (law, obsolete except in set phrases) A wrongful or criminal deed.
    He had become an accessory after the fact.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
      She was empassiond at that piteous act, / With zelous enuy of Greekes cruell fact, / Against that nation [...].
    • c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii], page 76, column 2:
      His friends still wrought Repreeves for him: And indeed his fact till now in the government of Lord Angelo, came not to an undoubtfull proofe.
    • 1819, T. Howell, A Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors:
      Gentlemen of the Jury, I think I need say but little on this matter: They all confess the fact of which they stand indicted. Some of them were old offenders, and all of them were proved to be at the taking of capt. Manwareing's sloop, and all took their shares: so that I think the fact is very fully and clearly proved upon them.
  9. (obsolete) A feat or meritorious deed.

Usage notes

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The collocation true fact is a famous example of a pleonasm that irritates some readers or listeners: all facts are true, and anything not true is not a fact. The collocation often arises innocently enough as a speaker or writer reaches for emphaticness, but in careful (deliberative) writing, the writer's own interests (e.g., credibility, persuasion) are best served by deleting the adjective. Ironic usage may bend this rule for humorous effect (e.g., trufax).

Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of “Something actual”): fiction
  • (antonym(s) of “Something objective”): opinion

Derived terms

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Translations

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The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

See also

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References

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Interjection

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fact

  1. Used before making a statement to introduce it as a trustworthy one.

Anagrams

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