fait

Fait is a term in the French language with two broad meanings. As a noun, fait refers to a fact, an event, or an occurrence. It is commonly used in both everyday speech and journalism to denote something that has happened or is known to be true. The masculine singular form is le fait; the plural is les faits, meaning facts.

As a past participle of the verb faire, fait appears in compound tenses to mean "done" or "made." In phrases such as il a fait ses devoirs, it conveys completed action. When used with avoir, the participle can show agreement in gender and number with a preceding direct object, for example les devoirs qu’elle a faits.

Etymology and usage: fait derives from Latin facere via Old French faire. The noun sense "fact" developed from the idea of something that has been done. It appears in many fixed expressions, including fait divers (a minor news item) and un fait accompli (an accomplished fact).

In English, the word occurs mainly in borrowed phrases. The best known is fait accompli, meaning a decision or action that is already completed and irreversible. The phrase is widely used in diplomacy, politics, and journalism, and it is typically written without diacritics in English. The standalone French word fait is rarely used in English outside these fixed expressions.