before the fact

prepositional phrase

Before the commission of a crime.

“accessory before the fact”

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Meanings

prepositional phrase
  1. lawBefore the commission of a crime.

    accessory before the fact

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

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

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

Translations

Finnish ennen rikosta
  • ennen rikostabefore the commission of a crime
Polish przed przestępstwem
  • przed przestępstwembefore the commission of a crime
Cite this entry
APA

before the fact. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/before%20the%20fact

MLA

“before the fact.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/before%20the%20fact. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “before the fact,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/before%20the%20fact.

Source: before the fact on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.