Printer Friendly
Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary
1,781,880,442 visitors served.
forum mailing list For webmasters
?
New: Language forums
Dictionary/
thesaurus
Medical
dictionary
Legal
dictionary
Financial
dictionary
Acronyms
 
Idioms
Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
encyclopedia
?

fact

   Also found in: Medical, Legal, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.01 sec.
fact  (fkt)
n.
1. Knowledge or information based on real occurrences: an account based on fact; a blur of fact and fancy.
2.
a. Something demonstrated to exist or known to have existed: Genetic engineering is now a fact. That Chaucer was a real person is an undisputed fact.
b. A real occurrence; an event: had to prove the facts of the case.
c. Something believed to be true or real: a document laced with mistaken facts.
3. A thing that has been done, especially a crime: an accessory before the fact.
4. Law The aspect of a case at law comprising events determined by evidence: The jury made a finding of fact.
Idiom:
in (point of) fact
In reality or in truth; actually.

[Latin factum, deed, from neuter past participle of facere, to do; see dh- in Indo-European roots.]
Usage Note: Fact has a long history of usage in the sense "allegation of fact," as in "This tract was distributed to thousands of American teachers, but the facts and the reasoning are wrong" (Albert Shanker). This practice has led to the introduction of the phrases true facts and real facts, as in The true facts of the case may never be known. These usages may occasion qualms among critics who insist that facts can only be true, but the usages are often useful for emphasis.

fact [fækt]
n
1. an event or thing known to have happened or existed
2. a truth verifiable from experience or observation
3. a piece of information get me all the facts of this case
4. (Law) 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
5. (Philosophy) Philosophy a proposition that may be either true or false, as contrasted with an evaluative statement
(Law)
after (or before) the fact Criminal law after (or before) the commission of the offence an accessory after the fact
as a matter of fact, in fact, 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
[from Latin factum something done, from factus made, from facere to make]
factful  adj
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.fact - a piece of information about circumstances that exist or events that have occurred; "first you must collect all the facts of the case"
information - knowledge acquired through study or experience or instruction
case - the actual state of things; "that was not the case"
detail, item, point - an isolated fact that is considered separately from the whole; "several of the details are similar"; "a point of information"
particular, specific - a fact about some part (as opposed to general); "he always reasons from the particular to the general"
general - a fact about the whole (as opposed to particular); "he discussed the general but neglected the particular"
matter of fact - a matter that is an actual fact or is demonstrable as a fact
observation - facts learned by observing; "he reported his observations to the mayor"
reason - a fact that logically justifies some premise or conclusion; "there is reason to believe he is lying"
score - the facts about an actual situation; "he didn't know the score"
truth - a fact that has been verified; "at last he knew the truth"; "the truth is that he didn't want to do it"
2.fact - a statement or assertion of verified information about something that is the case or has happened; "he supported his argument with an impressive array of facts"
info, information - a message received and understood
record book, book, record - a compilation of the known facts regarding something or someone; "Al Smith used to say, `Let's look at the record'"; "his name is in all the record books"
basics, rudiments - a statement of fundamental facts or principles
index number, indicator, index, indicant - a number or ratio (a value on a scale of measurement) derived from a series of observed facts; can reveal relative changes as a function of time
3.fact - an event known to have happened or something known to have existed; "your fears have no basis in fact"; "how much of the story is fact and how much fiction is hard to tell"
realness, realism, reality - the state of being actual or real; "the reality of his situation slowly dawned on him"
4.factfact - a concept whose truth can be proved; "scientific hypotheses are not facts"
concept, conception, construct - an abstract or general idea inferred or derived from specific instances

fact
noun
1. truth, reality, gospel (truth), certainty, verity, actuality, naked truth How much was fact and how much fancy no one knew.
truth lie, fiction, invention, delusion, yarn (informal), fable, fabrication, falsehood, untruth, tall story
2. detail, point, feature, particular, item, specific, circumstance The lorries always left in the dead of night when there were few witnesses around to record the fact.
3. event, happening, act, performance, incident, deed, occurrence, fait accompli (French) He was sure the gun was planted after the fact.
plural noun
information, details, data, the score (informal), gen (Brit. informal), info (informal), the whole story, ins and outs, the lowdown (informal) There is so much information you can find the facts for yourself.
in fact actually, really, indeed, truly, in reality, in truth, to tell the truth, in actual fact, in point of fact That sounds rather simple, but in fact it's very difficult.
Quotations
"In this life we want nothing but facts, sir; nothing but facts" [Charles Dickens Hard Times]
Translations
fact [fækt]
A. N
1. (= detail, circumstance) → hecho m
the fact thatel hecho de que ...
the fact that she knew is not the pointel hecho de que ella lo supiera no viene al caso
he still loved her in spite of the fact that she had left himaunque le había dejado él aún la quería
my family accepts the fact that I'm a vegetarianmi familia acepta que sea vegetariano
their priority is to establish the facts of the casesu prioridad es esclarecer los hechos or lo que ocurrió realmente
hard factshechos mpl innegables
to stick to the factsatenerse a los hechos
2. (= piece of information) → dato m
facts and figuresdatos mpl
the facts of lifelos detalles de la reproducción
get your facts right before you start accusing peopleinfórmate bien antes de empezar a acusar a la gente
he accused her of getting her facts wrongla acusó de no contar con la información correcta
3. (= reality) → realidad f
the fact remains thatla realidad sigue siendo que ...
the fact (of the matter) is thatla verdad or el hecho es que ...
I accept what he says as factacepto lo que dice como cierto
a story founded on factuna historia basada en hechos verídicos or reales
it has no basis in factcarece de base(real)
it's a fact thates un hecho que ...
to face (the) factsenfrentarse a la realidad or los hechos
he can't tell fact from fictionno es capaz de distinguir la realidad de la ficción
to know for a fact thatsaber a ciencia cierta que ...
in factde hecho
it sounds simple, but in fact it's very difficultparece sencillo, pero de hecho or en realidad es muy difícil
I don't like it, as a matter of fact I'm totally against itno me gusta, de hecho estoy totalmente en contra
"don't tell me you like it?" - "as a matter of fact I do"-no me digas que te gusta -pues sí, la verdad es que
they're very alike, in point of fact you can't tell the differenceson muy parecidos, de hecho no puedes distinguirlos
is that a fact! (iro) → ¡no me digas!
he's a dull writer, and that's a factes un escritor aburrido, eso no hay quien lo discuta
see also face B3
4. (Jur) (= event)
before/after the factantes/después de los hechos
see also accessory
B. CPD fact sheet Nhoja f informativa, informe m

fact [ˈfækt] n
(= piece of information) → fait m
facts and figures → les faits mpl et les chiffres mpl
the facts about sth → les éléments mpl de qch
to know for a fact (that) ... → savoir pertinemment que ...
despite the fact (that) ... → malgré le fait que ...
the fact remains (that) ... → toujours est-il que ...
(= truth) → faits mpl
to be based on fact → être basé(e) sur des faits
is it fact or fiction? → est-ce réel ou imaginaire?
in fact → en fait
in actual fact → en fait
as a matter of fact → en fait
the fact is (that) ... → le fait est que ...
fact-finding [ˈfæktfaɪndɪŋ] adj
fact-finding mission → mission f d'enquête
fact-finding committee → commission f d'enquête

fact
n
Tatsache f, → Faktum nt (geh); (historical, geographical etc) → Faktum nt; hard factsnackte Tatsachen pl; the true factsder wahre Sachverhalt; facts and figuresFakten und Zahlen; he accepts the fact that I don’t eat meater akzeptiert es, dass ich kein Fleisch esse; in view of the fact that …angesichts der Tatsache, dass …; despite the fact that …der Tatsache zum Trotz, dass …; to know for a fact that(es) ganz genau or sicher wissen, dass; the fact (of the matter) is that …die Sache ist die, dass …; the fact remains that …es lässt sich nicht bestreiten, dass …; to stick to the factsbei den Tatsachen bleiben, sich an die Tatsachen or Fakten halten; to look (the) facts in the faceder Wirklichkeit or den Tatsachen (dat)ins Auge sehen; the facts of the case (Jur) → der Tatbestand, der Sachverhalt; … and that’s a fact… darüber besteht kein Zweifel!, … Tatsache! (inf); is that a fact?tatsächlich?, Tatsache? (inf) ? face VT c
no pl (= reality)Wirklichkeit f, → Realität f; fact and fictionDichtung und Wahrheit; based/founded on factauf Tatsachen beruhend
in (point of) fact, in actual facteigentlich; (= in reality)tatsächlich, in Wirklichkeit; (= after all)(dann) doch; (to make previous statement more precise) → nämlich; in fact, as a matter of facteigentlich; (to intensify previous statement) → sogar; I don’t suppose you know him? — in (actual) fact or as a matter of fact I doSie kennen ihn nicht zufällig? — doch, eigentlich schon; do you know him? — in (actual) fact or as a matter of fact I dokennen Sie ihn? — jawohl; it sounds simple, but in (actual) fact or in point of fact it’s very difficultes hört sich so einfach an, aber in Wirklichkeit ist es sehr schwer; I’d meant to do some work but in fact I was too tiredich wollte eigentlich etwas arbeiten, war aber dann zu müde; I thought I could give you a lift, but in (actual) fact I won’t be goingich dachte, ich könnte dich mitnehmen, aber ich gehe doch nicht; I’m going soon, in (actual) fact tomorrowich reise bald ab, nämlich morgen; it won’t be easy, in fact or as a matter of fact it’ll be very difficultes wird nicht einfach sein, es wird sogar sehr schwierig sein; does it hurt? — as a matter of fact it’s very painfultuts weh? — ja, und sogar ganz schön; I bet you haven’t done that! — as a matter of fact I have!du hast das bestimmt nicht gemacht! — und ob, aber ja doch!; as a matter of fact we were just talking about youwir haben (nämlich) eben von Ihnen geredet; do you know Sir Charles? — as a matter of fact he’s my uncle/yes, in fact he’s my unclekennen Sie Sir Charles? — ja, und er ist sogar/ja, er ist nämlich mein Onkel
(Jur) to be an accessory before/after the factsich der Beihilfe/Begünstigung schuldig machen

fact [fækt] nfatto
it's a fact that ... → è un dato di fatto che...
to know for a fact that ... → sapere per certo che...
the facts of life (sex) → i fatti riguardanti la vita sessuale (realities) → le realtà della vita
facts and figures → dati mpl e cifre fpl
fact and fiction → realtà e fantasia
story founded on fact → storia basata sui fatti
it has no basis in fact → non si basa su fatti realmente accaduti
as a matter of fact, in point of fact → per la verità
the fact (of the matter) is that ... → la verità è che...
in fact → in realtà
fact [fækt] nfatto
it's a fact that ... → è un dato di fatto che...
to know for a fact that ... → sapere per certo che...
the facts of life (sex) → i fatti riguardanti la vita sessuale (realities) → le realtà della vita
facts and figures → dati mpl e cifre fpl
fact and fiction → realtà e fantasia
story founded on fact → storia basata sui fatti
it has no basis in fact → non si basa su fatti realmente accaduti
as a matter of fact, in point of fact → per la verità
the fact (of the matter) is that ... → la verità è che...
in fact → in realtà

fact
n fact [fӕkt]
1 something known or believed to be true It is a fact that smoking is a danger to health. feit حَقيقَه факт pravda kendsgerning; faktum die Tatsache γεγονός hecho tõsiasi حقیقت tosiasia fait עוּבדָה तथ्य činjenica tény kenyataan staðreynd fatto 事実 진실, 진상 faktas fakts kenyataan feit kjensgjerning, faktum fakt facto fapt факт fakt dejstvo činjenica faktum ข้อเท็จจริง gerçek, hakikat 事實 факт حقیقت sự việc
2 reality fact or fiction. waarheid, werklikheid واقِع، حَقيقَه действителност skutečnost virkelighed die Wirklichkeit πραγματικότητα realidad tegelikkus واقعیت todellisuus réel עוּבדוֹת वास्तविकता istina, stvarnost valóság realitas veruleiki realtà 事実 사실, 현실 tikrovė, tiesa īstenība; realitāte realiti werkelijkheid realitet, faktum prawda facto realitate реальность skutočnosť stvarnost stvarnost verklighet, sanning, fakta ความจริง gerçek, hakikat 實情 дійсність سچائی sự thật
the facts of life
information about sex and how babies are born (in sex education). feite van die lewe حقائِق الحياه полови въпроси základní poučení (o pohlavním životě) seksualundervisning die Tatsachen des Lebens σεξουαλική διαπαιδαγώγηση los misterios de la vida seksuaalkasvatus حقایق زندگی sukupuolikasvatus les choses de la vie עוּבדוֹת הַחַיִים जीवन का तथ्य životna stvarnost, činjenice o stvarnom životu nemi felvilágosítás informasi tentang pendidikan seks i fatti riguardanti la vita sessuale 性にかんする事実 성(性)·생식에 관한 사실 žinios apie lytinį gyvenimą/iš kur atsiranda vaikai dzimumdzīves noslēpumi informasi tentang pendidikan seks bijzonderheden van voortplanting (bij seksuele voorlichting) seksualundervisning sprawy seksualne сведения о половой жизни sexuálna výchova resnica o spolnem življenju istina o polnom životu hur ett barn kommer till ความเป็นจริง hayatî gerçekler, cinsel bilgiler 生活方面的基本知識 інформація про статеве життя زندگی کے حقائق những điều cần biết về giới tính
adj factual [ˈfӕktʃuəl]
of or containing facts a factual account. feitlik حَقيقي действителен skutečný saglig; faktuel Tatsachen-... πραγματικός, τεκμηριωμένος objetivo, factual faktidel põhinev واقعی tosiasiallinen basé sur des/les faits עוּבדָתִי तथ्यात्मक stvaran, činjenicama potvrđen tényleges mengandung fakta staðreyndalegur reale 事実の 사실의 faktinis, faktiškas, tikras faktu-; uz faktiem balstīts berdasarkan fakta feitelijk faktisk, virkelig, saklig faktyczny, wierny factual bazat pe fapte (reale) фактический skutočný dejanski činjenični verklig, faktisk เกี่ยวกับข้อเท็จจริง gerçeğe dayalı 真實的 фактичний حقیقی thực sự
adv factually
feitelik حَقيقةً действително skutečně sagligt; faktuelt sachlich τεκμηριωμένα ateniéndose a los hechos tegelikult از نظر واقعیات asiallisesti en s'en tenant aux faits עובדתית गुट, दल stvarno ténylegesen secara nyata staðreyndalega basato sui fatti 実際には 실제로 faktiškai, tikrai balstoties uz faktiem dengan fakta feitelijk saklig (sett) faktycznie, wiernie factualmente ţinând cont de fapte фактически skutočne dejansko činjenično verkligt อย่างแท้จริง gerçeklere dayanarak 真實地 опираючись на факти واقعتہً dựa trên sự thật
as a matter of fact, in fact, in point of fact
actually or really She doesn't like him much – in fact I think she hates him! in werklikheid, eintlik, om die waarheid te sê في الحَقيقَه в действителност ve skutečnosti, vlastně rent faktisk; faktisk tatsächlich στην πραγματικότητα en realidad, de hecho tegelikult در واقع itse asiassa en fait לְמַעֲשֶׂה वास्तव में zapravo, u stvari valójában sesungguhnya í raun in effetti 実際は 사실은 iš tikrųjų, faktiškai īstenībā; faktiski sebenarnya in feite faktisk, egentlig, i virkeligheten właściwie de facto de fapt в сущности; фактически v skutočnosti pravzaprav zapravo faktiskt, i själva verket แท้จริง; อันที่จริง (işin) aslında, aslını ararsan(ız) 事實上 по суті, фактично در اصل thực tế là

fact حقيقة fakt faktum Tatsache γεγονός hecho tosiasia fait činjenica fatto 事実 사실 feit realitet fakt facto, fato факт faktum ความจริง gerçek sự kiện 事实


How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content.
?Page tools
Printer friendly
Cite / link
Email
Feedback
Add definition
? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Why, then, you are not to see anywhere, what you don't see in fact; you are not to have anywhere, what you don't have in fact.
If, therefore, the re-examination of a fact once determined by a jury, should in any case be admitted under the proposed Constitution, it may be so regulated as to be done by a second jury, either by remanding the cause to the court below for a second trial of the fact, or by directing an issue immediately out of the Supreme Court.
The disappointment was made all the more severe by reason of the fact that my place of work was where I could see the happy children passing to and from school mornings and afternoons.
 
Dictionary/thesaurus browser? ? Full browser
 
 
Dictionary, Thesaurus, and Translations
?

Disclaimer | Privacy policy | Feedback | Copyright © 2009 Farlex, Inc.
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Terms of Use.