English Online Dictionary. What means fact? What does fact mean?
English
Etymology
From Latin factum (“a deed, act, exploit; in Medieval Latin also state, condition, circumstance”), neuter of factus (“done or made”), perfect passive participle of faciō (“do, make”). Doublet of feat.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /fækt/
- Rhymes: -ækt
Noun
fact (countable and uncountable, plural facts)
- Something actual as opposed to invented.
- Something which is real.
- Gravity is a fact, not a theory.
- Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.
- An objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed upon by a substantial number of experts.
- Information about a particular subject, especially actual conditions and/or circumstances.
- (databases) An individual value or measurement at the lowest level of granularity in a data warehouse.
- (archaic) Action; the realm of action.
- (law, obsolete except in set phrases) A wrongful or criminal deed.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.ix:
- She was empassiond at that piteous act, / With zelous enuy of Greekes cruell fact, / Against that nation [...].
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.ix:
- (obsolete) A feat or meritorious deed.
Antonyms
- (Something actual): fiction
Derived terms
Related terms
Translations
See also
- value
- opinion
- belief
References
- fact at OneLook Dictionary Search
- fact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- fact in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.
- "Conway: 'Alternative Facts'" Merriam-Webster's Trend Watch Merriam-Webster. 2017.
Interjection
fact
- Used before making a statement to introduce it as a trustworthy one.
Anagrams
- acft