1. something known to be true: something that can be shown to be true, to exist, or to have happened
2. truth or reality of something: the truth or actual existence of something, as opposed to the supposition of something or a belief about something based on fact
3. piece of information: a piece of information, e.g. a statistic or a statement of the truth
4. law actual course of events: the circumstances of an event or state of affairs, rather than an interpretation of its significance Matters of fact are issues for a jury, while matters of law are issues for the court.
5. law something based on evidence: something that is based on or concerned with the evidence presented in a legal case
[15th century. < Latin factum "deed" < fact-, past participle of facere "do, make"]
after the fact after something, especially a criminal act, has been done
before the fact before something, especially a criminal act, has been done
in fact used to correct a previous misunderstanding or to reinforce a previous statement
Word Usage
The phrase in fact, as in She is, in fact, correct, is spelled as two words, never as infact.
Word History
The Latin word facere "to do, make," from which fact is derived, is also the source of English difficult, effect, facile, faction1, factor, fashion, feasible, feat, feature, and fetish.
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