n.
 a thing that is indisputably the case. 
▸
(facts)
 information used as evidence or as part of a report.
 ▸chiefly Law  the truth about events as opposed to interpretation.
 
  Phrase
  
    - before 
(or after)
 the fact
 Law  before (or after) the committing of a crime.  - a fact of life
 something that must be accepted, even if unpalatable.  - the facts of life
 information about sexual matters.  - in 
(point of)
 fact
 in reality. 
   
  Etymology
  C15 (orig. meaning ‘an act’, later ‘a crime’, surviving in the phr. before (or after) the fact): from L. factum, neut. past part. of facere ‘do’.