A fact (derived from the Latin factum, see below) is something that has really occurred or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability, that is whether it can be proven to correspond to experience. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scientific facts are verified by repeatable experiments.
Read more about Fact: Etymology and Usage, Fact in Philosophy, Fact in Science, Fact in History, Fact in Law
Famous quotes containing the word fact:
“The fact is, that civilisation requires slaves.... Human slavery is wrong, insecure, and demoralising. On mechanical slavery, on the slavery of the machine, the future of the world depends.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“The effort to calculate exactly what the voters want at each particular moment leaves out of account the fact that when they are troubled the thing the voters most want is to be told what to want.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“Apart from the fact that women posess the equipment for lactation, mothers seem no more predisposed to, or innately skilled at, child care than are fathers, siblings or non parents. Besides, women obviously come in a variety of shapes, sizes, talents and temperaments. Why shouldn’t they vary in degrees of motherhood?”
—Shari Thurer (20th century)