different between fact vs dictum

English

Etymology

From Latin factum (“a deed, act, exploit; in Medieval Latin also state, condition, circumstance”), neuter of factus (“done or made”), perfect passive participle of faci? (“do, make”). Doublet of feat.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fækt/
• Rhymes: -ækt

Noun

fact (countable and uncountable, plural facts)

1. Something actual as opposed to invented.
2. Something which is real.

   Gravity is a fact, not a theory.

3. Something concrete used as a basis for further interpretation.

4. An objective consensus on a fundamental reality that has been agreed upon by a substantial number of experts.

5. Information about a particular subject, especially actual conditions and/or circumstances.

6. (databases) An individual value or measurement at the lowest level of granularity in a data warehouse.
7. (archaic) Action; the realm of action.
8. (law, obsolete except in set phrases) A wrongful or criminal deed.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.ix:

     She was empassiond at that piteous act, / With zelous enuy of Greekes cruell fact, / Against that nation [...].

9. (obsolete) A feat or meritorious deed.

Antonyms

• (Something actual): fiction

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

See also

• value
• opinion
• belief

References

• fact at OneLook Dictionary Search
• fact in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• fact in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• "Conway: 'Alternative Facts'" Merriam-Webster's Trend Watch Merriam-Webster. 2017.

Interjection

fact

1. Used before making a statement to introduce it as a trustworthy one.

Anagrams

• acft

English

Etymology

From Latin dictum (“proverb, maxim”), from dictus (“having been said”), perfect passive participle of dico (“I say”). Compare Spanish dicho (“saying”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /?d?k.t?m/

Noun

dictum (plural dicta or dictums)

1. An authoritative statement; a dogmatic saying; a maxim, an apothegm.
   • 1949, Bruce Kiskaddon, George R. Stewart, Earth Abides

     ...a dictum which he had heard an economics professor once propound...

2. A judicial opinion expressed by judges on points that do not necessarily arise in the case, and are not involved in it.
3. The report of a judgment made by one of the judges who has given it.
4. An arbitrament or award.

See also

• ipse dixit

Translations

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?dik.tum/, [?d??kt????]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?dik.tum/, [?d?ikt?um]

Etymology 1

Neuter form of dictus (“said, spoken”), past passive participle of d?c? (“to say, to speak”).

Noun

dictum n (genitive dict?); second declension

1. a word, saying, something said
2. proverb, maxim, saw
3. bon mot, witticism

   Synonym: dict?rium

4. verse, poetry
5. a prophesy, prediction
6. order, command
7. promise, assurance

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

Related terms

Descendants

Further reading

• dictum in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• dictum in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• dictum in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• dictum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette
• Carl Meissner; Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book?^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Participle

dictum

1. inflection of dictus:
   1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular
   2. accusative masculine singular

Verb

dictum

1. accusative supine of d?c?

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

dictum n (definite singular dictumet, indefinite plural dicta or dictum, definite plural dicta or dictaa or dictai or dictuma or dictumi)

1. form removed with the spelling reform of 2012; superseded by diktum

Spanish

Noun

dictum m (plural dictums)

1. dictum