prima facie
English
editEtymology
editFrom Latin prīmā (“first”) faciē (“shape, figure”), literally “at the first appearance.”
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA(key): /ˈpɹiːmə ˈfeɪsiː/, /ˈpɹaɪmə ˈfeɪsiː/, /-ʃiː/, /-ʃə/
- (General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈpɹiːmə ˈfæɪsiː/, /ˈpɹɑɪmə ˈfæɪsiː/, /-ʃiː/, /-ʃə/
Adverb
editprima facie (comparative more prima facie, superlative most prima facie)
- (law) At first sight; on the face of it.
- 1871, Gail Hamilton, Gala-days, page 191:
- […] the nicest young man that ever was, — daintily gloved, patently booted, oilily curled, snowily wristbanded, with a lovely cambric (prima facie) handkerchief bound about his hyacinthine locks and polished hat.
- 1916 April 8, The National Provisioner, volume 54, number 15, page 36, column 2:
- Prima facie this may not read like a true story.
Synonyms
edit- apparently, seemingly, ostensibly; see also Thesaurus:ostensibly
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editat first sight
|
Adjective
editprima facie (not comparable)
- (law) Apparently correct; not needing proof unless evidence to the contrary is shown.
- 2020, Alex Garland, 17:59 from the start, in Devs, season 1, episode 5, spoken by Lecturer (Liz Carr):
- We conclude that the single photon is somehow interacting with itself. And now we have prima facie evidence of the superposition of quantum particles, that they can exist in more than one place at the same time.
Usage notes
editIn common usage, often used to mean that the conclusion is obvious. In more narrow legal usage, it means rather that there is a case to answer – that the question is clear, but the conclusion is not necessarily obvious. See also Wikipedia at Prima facie: res ipsa loquitur and Res ipsa loquitur: contrast to prima facie.
Synonyms
edit- immediate, indubitable, self-evident; see also Thesaurus:obvious
Translations
editSpanish
editAdverb
editFurther reading
edit- “prima facie”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
Categories:
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *dʰeh₁-
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adverbs
- English multiword terms
- en:Law
- English terms with quotations
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adverbs
- Spanish multiword terms
- es:Law