De facto

/ˌdeɪˈfæktoʊ/ adj, adv, noun

adj, adv, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    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. Australia, New-Zealand

    "One of the vendors was simple and straight; he said that it was his policy not to rent a house to de factos."

Adjective
  1. 1
    In actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status. not-comparable

    "While it is largely recognized that Ukraine holds de jure sovereignty on Crimea, Russia exercises de facto administration on the peninsula."

Adjective
  1. 1
    existing in fact whether with lawful authority or not wordnet
Adverb
  1. 1
    In actual use or existence, regardless of official or legal status. modal, not-comparable
Adverb
  1. 1
    in reality or fact wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
absoluteabsolutelyactualactuallyauthenticclaim

Example

More examples

"While it is largely recognized that Ukraine holds de jure sovereignty on Crimea, Russia exercises de facto administration on the peninsula."

Etymology

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

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