prima facie

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prima facie

/ˈpɹiː.mə ˈfeɪ.siː/ US, UK
/ˈpɹaɪ-/ US, UK
/-ʃiː/ US, UK
/-ʃə/ US, UK
/ˈpɹiː.mə ˈfæɪ.siː/ Australia
/ˈpɹɑɪ-/ Australia
/-ʃiː/ Australia
/-ʃə/ Australia

Where it comes from

From Latin prīmā (“first”) + faciē (“shape, figure”), literally “at the first appearance.”

adverb more prima facie · most prima facie

At first sight; on the face of it. […] 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.
Similar: apparently, seemingly, at first blush, at first glance, at first sight, on the face of it, on the surface, ostensibly, outwardly, prima facie, superficially, surfacely

adjective

not comparable Apparently correct; not needing proof unless evidence to the contrary is shown. 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.
Similar: immediate, indubitable, self-evident, apparent, arrant, undoubted, glaring, bait, blatant, clear, clear as a bell, clear as day

Translations

Every language

adv at first sight

中文	從表面上看 /从表面上看 cóng biǎomiàn shàng kàn
हिन्दी	प्रथम दृष्ट्या pratham dŕṣṭyā
Français	prima facie

adj apparently correct

中文	初步的 chūbù de, 初步證明的 /初步证明的 chūbù zhèngmíng de, 表面的 biǎomiàn de
Français	prima facie

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Cite this

MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{prima_facie_2026,
  title = {prima facie},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/prima%20facie},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}