ipso facto
2
8.9
- idiom
- /ˈɪpsoʊ ˈfæktəʊ/
- Formal
:
ipso facto
- Greenspan and others believed that the global system, by virtue of its being global, was ipso facto more stable.
Examples
-
Otherwise, ipso facto, they would not have lived or be living today, as the case may be.
Blog text (3) -
Obviously, such steadfastness and certainty of conviction don't ipso facto prove that his arguments are unassailable.
Blog text (10) -
Whatever happens is ipso facto possible.
Fiction book (2000) -
Which your piece implies is ipso facto impossible.
-
Indeed, the wild is, ipso facto, abnormal.
Academic text (2006) -
Thus, to understand the structure of Species 1 is ipso facto to understand the structure of all the other species of the same genus.
Academic text (1995) -
So, if creatures are thought to be fierce... they are, ipso facto, fierce!
-
"I am doubtful, ipso facto, whether any conclusion you've drawn can be relied upon.
Fiction book (1996) -
Of course, historical persistence in a certain course of conduct for an extended time does not render that conduct, ipso facto, compliant with the Constitution.
Academic text (2005) -
If it rains, the event will be, ipso facto, cancelled.
Synonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
ipso + facto
Ipso facto is a Latin loan meaning 'by that very fact' and its components literally point to 'the fact itself', so the sense is compositionally related to the parts. However, the constituents are non‑English Latin forms and the construction does not follow normal English composition patterns, so an average B1 learner would not reliably derive the meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
Ipso facto is a Latin phrase that literally means 'by the fact itself', coming from the words ipso 'by itself' and facto 'fact'. It was used in law to say one thing follows from another, so today it means 'as a direct result' or 'because of that fact'.