In the sea this is borne out by the observed fact that highly productive upwelling areas are more acidic.
Pop psych lore is a bewildering mix of fact and fallacy.
In fact, being light-hearted boosted blood flow about the same amount as light exercise or drugs that lower cholesterol.
The former fact has been used extensively in the study of how certain drugs affect the sympathetic nervous system.
In fact, many plants have evolved such compounds as a protective mechanism against foraging animals.
One problem lies in the fact that the camera that identifies the fluorescing firefly protein in mice cannot be used in humans.
In fact, the answer is far more profound than it appears.
Yet this genetic fact has led to some divergent conclusions.
One fact regarding this claim needs to be clarified right away.
In fact, the researchers did not find any trace of the gene variant in their samples.
British Dictionary definitions for fact
fact
/fækt/
noun
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) (often pl) 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) a proposition that may be either true or false, as contrasted with an evaluative statement
6.
(criminal law) after the fact, after the commission of the offence: an accessory after the fact
7.
(criminal law) before the fact, before the commission of the offence
8.
as a matter of fact, in fact, in point of fact, in reality or actuality
9.
fact of life, an inescapable truth, esp an unpleasant one
10.
the fact of the matter, the truth
Derived Forms
factful, adjective
Word Origin
C16: from Latin factum something done, from factus made, from facere to make
1530s, "action," especially "evil deed," from Latin factum "event, occurrence," literally "thing done," neuter past participle of facere "to do" (see factitious). Usual modern sense of "thing known to be true" appeared 1630s, from notion of "something that has actually occurred." Facts of life "harsh realities" is from 1854; specific sense of "human sexual functions" first recorded 1913.
artificial intelligence, programming The kind of clause used in logic programming which has no subgoals and so is always true (always succeeds). E.g. wet(water). male(denis). This is in contrast to a rule which only succeeds if all its subgoals do. Rules usually contain logic variables, facts rarely do, except for oddities like "equal(X,X).". (1996-10-20)
