matter of fact

plural matters of fact

1. lawAn issue concerning the factual circumstances of a cause of action that is to be tried or proved; an allegation forming the basis of a claim or defense, as opposed to a matter of law.

   Whether he left his house on the night of the murder is a matter of fact.

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   Matters of fact are issues for a jury, while matters of law are for the court.

2. broadlyA point of fact; a claim or statement about (empirical) facts, as opposed to conjecture or opinion.

   It’s a matter of fact that I came into work yesterday.

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   And all that I pretend to in this ensueing Treatise, is only to poynt with the finger from the Text unto the mater of fact, shewing how here & there, these & those words of the Text were fulfilled.

   1690, John Butler, Bellua Marina: or the Monstrous Beast Which Arose out of the Sea […], page 3

1. abbreviationadverbialcolloquialellipsisEllipsis of as a matter of fact.

   Matter of fact, I vaguely recall interviewing him at a public appearance at The New York Times Building on Wednesday evening.

   2009 November 14, George Vecsey, “In Assessing Agassi, the Title Tells It All”, in The New York Times

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   “Are you familiar with the Trade Mart building?” ¶ “Yes,” I replied. “Matter of fact, I had drinks up at the top of the Mart only a few nights ago.”

   1970, James Kirkwood, American Grotesque: An Account of the Clay Shaw–Jim Garrison Affair in the City of New Orleans, page 570