See Also: fact(dictionary)
fact(dictionary)
Ignorance Of Fact(law)
Causation In Fact(law)
Attorney-in-Fact(law)
matter-of-fact(dictionary)
Attorney in Fact(money)
fact-finding(dictionary)
fact sheet(dictionary)
fact of life(dictionary)

fact (iou)



fact noun. [fakt] Also (repr. dial. pronunc., now US) fack [fak]. L15.
[Latin factum use as noun of neut. pa. pple of facere do, make.]
a. (An) action, a deed; esp. a noble or brave action, an exploit, a feat. L15-E19.
Milton He who most excels in fact of Arms. J. Austen Gracious in fact if not in word.
b. An evil or wrongful action; a crime. Now only in before the fact, after the fact, confess the fact. M16.
W. Harrison He is..hanged..neere the place where the fact was committed. I. Banks Will I agree to be an accomplice after the fact?
The act of making, doing, or performing. Chiefly in in the fact, in the very fact. M16-E19.
W. Irving She was detected..in the very fact of laughing.
Truth; reality. L16.
B. Jowett Imagination is often at war with reason and fact.
A thing known for certain to have occurred or to be true; a datum of experience. M17.
E. M. Forster The facts are that she has been in England for three days and will not see us. C. Isherwood You keep ignoring the fact that I have been back there.
A thing assumed or alleged as a basis for inference. E18.
Oxford English Dictionary The writer's facts are far from trustworthy.
Law. collect. sing. & in pl. Events or circumstances as distinct from their legal interpretation. E18.
J. M. Lely A jury..decides all the issues of fact.
Phrases: a matter of fact: see MATTER noun. as a matter of fact actually. brute fact: see BRUTE adjective. fact of life a thing (esp. unpleasant) the existence of which cannot be ignored. facts and figures precise information. hard fact inescapable truth. in fact, in point of fact in reality; (in summarizing) in short. issue of fact: see ISSUE noun. Theatre of Fact: see THEATRE noun. the fact of the matter the truth. the facts of life colloq., euphem. details of the human sexual functions.
Comb.: fact-finder a person engaged in fact-finding; fact-finding noun & adjective (a) noun the finding out of facts, the discovery and establishment of the facts of an issue; (b) adjective engaged in finding out facts; (esp. of a committee etc.) set up to discover and establish the facts of an issue; fact-sheet a paper on which facts relevant to an issue are set out briefly.
factful adjective (rare) L19.