‖ post factum
[L., = after the fact.]
adv. phr. After the event. Also as adj.
| 1692 Locke Some Considerations Money 12 Unless you intend to break in only upon Mortgages and Contracts already made, and (which is not to be supposed) by a Law, post factum, void Bargains lawfully made. 1753 Hanway Trav. (1762) I. i. vii. 28 Reasonings post factum, argue rather our experience than our wisdom. 1927 Mod. Philol. Nov. 227 New locutions..constantly replace old ones, which viewed post factum, would have been unintelligible, had they remained in use. 1949 Koestler Insight & Outlook p. vii, But textbooks are post-factum rearrangements of long and devious processes of inquiry. 1964 V. Nabokov Defence viii. 125 I'm very glad post factum..but..for the moment it somehow disturbs me. 1972 New Yorker 16 Jan. 28/2 Not wanting to use the police emergency number—911—in a post-factum situation. |