phrase
Latin
De Facto
lit. โin factโ
True in practice, even if not officially.
Origin
Pairs with its opposite, 'de jure' (in law). The distinction was sharpened in Roman jurisprudence and is still standard in international law and political analysis.
Modern usage
Used to acknowledge informal reality: 'the de facto leader,' 'a de facto standard,' 'de facto segregation.'
In the wild
She's the de facto CTO, even though her title is just 'engineering manager.'โ common usage
Tags
reality
legal