Facts

How to spell facts

5 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce facts

What does facts mean?

1. nounPieces of information known or proven to be true.

Facts in a sentence

• The report sets out the facts behind the budget shortfall.

• She checked the facts carefully before sending the email.

Where does facts come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the plural of 'fact', which English took directly from the Latin factum, meaning 'a thing that has been done'. Factum was the past participle of the verb facere, 'to make or to do', so a fact was originally a deed or an action that had actually taken place. When the word entered English in the 1500s it kept this sense of something accomplished, and only gradually narrowed to mean a piece of information known to be true. The same facere root powers a huge family of English words, including 'manufacture', 'factory' and 'effect', all of them carrying the idea of making or doing. Because the spelling simply adds -s to the solid 'fact', it holds no real trap; the ct cluster stays clear even though the t can sound soft in speech.

How the word is built

• fact (from Latin factum: a thing done)
• -s (plural)