# fact

Pronunciation: say "FAKT" /fækt/

## Noun

1. Something that is known or proved to be true, or that really happened, rather than being invented, imagined, or merely believed.
   - Simple: Something that is true or really happened, not made up or just believed.
   - _Reporters are trained to separate fact from rumor before they publish._
   - _The novel blends historical fact with entirely invented characters._
2. What is actually known about a subject, especially the real circumstances or state of affairs.
   - Simple: Real information about a subject, like the true details of what happened.
   - _The committee gathered every relevant fact before reaching a decision._
   - _Investigators assembled the facts surrounding the building's collapse._
4. A wrongful or criminal deed.
   - Simple: A crime or wrongful act that someone has done.
   - _Prosecutors charged her as an accessory before the fact, saying she had planned the entire heist._
   - _Anyone who shelters the offender afterward may be charged as an accessory after the fact._

## Interjection

3. Said before a statement to present it as trustworthy and beyond dispute.
   - Simple: Said before a statement to show you believe it is completely true.
   - _Fact: the proposal was rejected before anyone had even read it._
   - _Fact: nobody in this family has ever finished a road trip without getting lost at least once._

## Noun

5. Action; the realm of action, as distinct from thought or speech. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: Action, or the world of doing things rather than just thinking.
6. A feat or meritorious deed; a noteworthy achievement. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A great and praiseworthy thing that someone has done.

## Other meanings

- (noun) In a data warehouse, a single value or measurement recorded at the finest level of detail.

## Origin

It comes from Middle English fact, from Latin factum ("an act, deed, or feat"), the neuter of factus ("done or made"), the past participle of faciō ("do, make"), ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁- ("to put, place, set"). It is a doublet of feat.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fact (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).