De facto

De facto (/d ˈfækt, di -, də -/ day FAK-toh, dee -⁠, də -⁠,[1] Latin: [deː ˈfaktoː] ; lit.'in fact') describes practices that exist in reality, regardless of whether they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms.[2][3] It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with de jure ("by law"), which refers to things that happen according to official law, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality.

  1. ^ Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary. S.v. "de facto Archived 2021-01-24 at the Wayback Machine." Retrieved January 12, 2018
  2. ^ "de facto". Dictionary.com. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  3. ^ See I. 3. "de facto". Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. 1989.