de facto

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de facto

/ˌdeɪˈfæktəʊ/ UK
/dɪˈfæktəʊ/ UK
/ˌdiːˈfæktəʊ/ UK
/ˌdeɪˈfæktoʊ/ US
/dəˈfæktoʊ/ US
/ˌdiˈfæktoʊ/ US

Where it comes from

Unadapted borrowing from Latin dē factō (literally “according to fact”), from dē (“according to”) + ablative of factum (“fact, deed, act”).

adverb

modal, not comparable In actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status.
Similar: in fact, in practice, factually, practically

adjective defacto

not comparable In actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status. While it is largely recognized that Ukraine holds de jure sovereignty on Crimea, Russia exercises de facto administration on the peninsula.

noun de factos

Australia, New Zealand A legally undeclared spouse; a partner in a spousal relationship which is not officially declared as a marriage, comparable to a common law husband or wife. One of the vendors was simple and straight; he said that it was his policy not to rent a house to de factos.

Translations

Every language

adj in fact or in practice

Español	de facto, de fecho (desus.), de hecho
日本語	デファクト defakuto, 事実上の jijitsujō no
中文	事實上 /事实上 shìshíshàng, 實質上 /实质上
हिन्दी	सत्यानुसार satyānusār
Français	de facto, de fait
Deutsch	de facto
Ελληνικά	εκ των πραγμάτων ek ton pragmáton, ντε φάκτο nte fákto
Русский	де-фа́кто dɛ-fákto, факти́ческий faktíčeskij
العربية	بحكم الأمر الواقع

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Cite this

MLA

"de facto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/de%20facto. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

de facto. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/de%20facto

Chicago

"de facto." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/de%20facto.

BibTeX

@misc{de_facto_2026,
  title = {de facto},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/de%20facto},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}