different between fact vs disconfirmation

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

dis- +? confirmation

Noun

disconfirmation (countable and uncountable, plural disconfirmations)

1. (chiefly philosophy, uncountable) Introduction of evidence which conclusively establishes that a belief or hypothesis is not true or which diminishes the acceptability of a belief or hypothesis.
   • 1990, Donald P. Spence, "Theories of the Mind: Science or Literature?", Poetics Today, vol. 11, no. 2, p. 331:

     Once we move our search to the region of the mind, we find that access to the facts becomes much more difficult; as a result, disconfirmation is largely out of reach and metaphor begins to flourish.

2. (countable) A particular fact, observation, or other item of evidence which shows or tends to show that a belief or hypothesis is not true.
   • 1981, Daniel M. Hausman, "John Stuart Mill's Philosophy of Economics", Philosophy of Science, vol. 48, no. 3, p. 366:

     One can reduce the disconfirmations of economic generalizations by specifying a margin of error.

Synonyms

• infirmation

Related terms

• disconfirm

Translations