fact English · revision 2304

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1539|origins=la faciō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fækt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|factum|t=deed, event, occurrence]], literally “a thing done”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) the neuter past participle of [[m|la|facere|t=to do, make]],^(Etymonline)^(Skeat 1911)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*dʰeh₁-|t=to set, put]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2000) It is a [[doublet]] of [[feat]], which came earlier through Old French.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Klein 1966)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An action or deed, especially an evil one, a crime: 1539.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) Etymonline dates it to the 1530s,^(Etymonline) the Shorter Oxford to the late 15th century,^(SOED 2002) and Merriam-Webster to the 15th century.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th and 17th centuries a ''fact'' was most often a crime,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) and Spenser could write “His cruel facts he often would repent”.^(Trench 1859) The sense survives in the legal phrases ''before the fact'' and ''after the fact''.^(COED 2004)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) A ''fact'' could also be a noble deed, an exploit (1543).^(OED 1989) The modern sense “something known to be true or to have really happened” is dated 1632 by Barnhart and the OED,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) although the HTOED records it from 1542.^(HTOED) Trench noted that ''fact'' had become distinct from ''act'' and ''deed'', since a fact needs no doer.^(Trench 1859) The plural ''facts'' meaning “the circumstances of a case” is from the 18th century.^(Hoad 1986) ''Factual'' is first found before 1834, in Coleridge, formed on the pattern of ''actual''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1539 – an evil deed, crime.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1543 – a noble deed (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1542 or 1632 – something known to be true.^(HTOED)^(OED 1989)

+ * 18th century – ''facts'', the circumstances of a case.^(Hoad 1986)

+ * before 1834 – ''factual'' (Coleridge).^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something known to exist or to have happened; a [[truth]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # Information presented as objectively true.^(AHD)

+ # Reality, as opposed to [[fiction]] or opinion.^(AHD)

+ # ''(law)'' The part of a case concerning events, as decided by the [[evidence]].^(AHD)

+ # ''(law, archaic)'' A deed, especially a [[crime]]: ''an accessory after the fact''.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[factful]]

+ * [[facticity]]

+ * [[factive]]

+ * [[faction]]

+ * [[factual]]

+ * [[factoid]]

+ * [[attorney-in-fact]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fashion]]

+ * [[factor]]

+ * [[factorial]]

+ * [[factory]]

+ * [[factotum]]

+ * [[feat]]

+ * [[feature]]

+ * [[affect]]

+ * [[effect]]

+ * [[do]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The AHD notes that ''fact'' has long been used for what is only claimed to be fact, which led to phrases such as ''true facts'' and ''real facts''; these can seem redundant, but they serve where a writer means to set the actual facts against false claims.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}