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How to Find the Meaning of Fact

"It's a fact," your friend tells you. Clear enough. But you might then ask yourself what, exactly, a fact is. The use and meaning of many words are constantly in flux. And even when this is not the case, the meanings of even simple words, like the word "fact," can be diverse and not always easy to distinguish. Accurate use of any word, and the avoidance of possible misuse, asks you to pay close attention to any and all often subtle meanings of that word.

Things You'll Need

  • "Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary," "The New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary," "Webster's New World College Dictionary" or any other authoritative dictionary of the English language
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Instructions

    • 1

      Look up the word "fact" in "Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary" or any authoritative English dictionary.

    • 2

      Note the numbered entries after the word. For example, you note the first numbered entry after the word "fact": "1 : a thing done."

    • 3

      Recognize that each numbered entry after the word "fact" identifies a specific sense of the word. The sense itself is preceded by a colon. For example, one sense of the word "fact" is that it represents "a thing done."

    • 4

      Note the other senses of the word "fact": "2: archaic : PERFORMANCE, DOING"; "3 : the quality of being actual"; "4a : something that has actual existence ... b : an actual occurrence"; and "5 : a piece of information presented as having objective reality."

    • 5

      Notice the letters after some of the numbered entries. Each letter introduces a subsense of that particular sense of the word "fact." Each subsense is preceded by a colon. For example, "1 : a thing done: as a : obs : FEAT b: CRIME ... c archaic : ACTION."

    • 6

      Look up unfamiliar identifications or abbreviations in the front of the dictionary. For example, you find on page 18a of your "Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary" that "archaic" means the word or sense was once common but is now found only occasionally or in certain circumstances. You also find that "obs" means the word or sense has not been used since 1755.

    • 7

      Write a sentence using each numbered meaning of the word in use. For example, "Each juror accepted the robbery as a fact [a thing done]"; "The fact [the quality of being actual] of my existence is irrevocable"; and "The Atlantic is a saltwater sea; that's a fact [a piece of information presented as having objective reality]."

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