before the fact

English

Prepositional phrase

before the fact

1. (law) Before the commission of a crime.

   Coordinate term: after the fact

   accessory before the fact

2. Assumed prior to factual study; ipso facto true, good, or correct; a priori.

   Coordinate term: after the fact

   • 2021, Amia Srinivasan, “Preface”, in The Right to Sex, Bloomsbury:

     Feminism envisaged as a 'home' insists on commonality before the fact, pushing aside all those who would trouble its domestic idyll.

Translations

before the commission of a crime

• Finnish: ennen rikosta
• Polish: przed przestępstwem

a priori — see a priori

Further reading

• “before the fact”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “before the fact”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• “before the fact”, in Collins English Dictionary.