catflap.org Online Dictionary Query

  Accessary \Ac*ces"sa*ry\ (277), n.; pl. Accessaries. [Cf.
     Accessory and LL. accessarius.] (Law)
     One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or
     instigator to the commission of an offense.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Accessary before the fact (Law), one who commands or
        counsels an offense, not being present at its commission.
        
  
     Accessary after the fact, one who, after an offense,
        assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the
        commission of the offense.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: This word, as used in law, is spelt accessory by
           Blackstone and many others; but in this sense is spelt
           accessary by Bouvier, Burrill, Burns, Whishaw, Dane,
           and the Penny Cyclopedia; while in other senses it is
           spelt accessory. In recent text-books on criminal law
           the distinction is not preserved, the spelling being
           either accessary or accessory.
           [1913 Webster]

  Fact \Fact\ (f[a^]kt), n. [L. factum, fr. facere to make or do.
     Cf. Feat, Affair, Benefit, Defect, Fashion, and
     -fy.]
     1. A doing, making, or preparing. [Obs.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
              A project for the fact and vending
              Of a new kind of fucus, paint for ladies. --B.
                                                    Jonson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. An effect produced or achieved; anything done or that
        comes to pass; an act; an event; a circumstance.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              What might instigate him to this devilish fact, I am
              not able to conjecture.               --Evelyn.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              He who most excels in fact of arms.   --Milton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. Reality; actuality; truth; as, he, in fact, excelled all
        the rest; the fact is, he was beaten.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. The assertion or statement of a thing done or existing;
        sometimes, even when false, improperly put, by a transfer
        of meaning, for the thing done, or supposed to be done; a
        thing supposed or asserted to be done; as, history abounds
        with false facts.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              I do not grant the fact.              --De Foe.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              This reasoning is founded upon a fact which is not
              true.                                 --Roger Long.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: The term fact has in jurisprudence peculiar uses in
           contrast with law; as, attorney at law, and attorney in
           fact; issue in law, and issue in fact. There is also a
           grand distinction between law and fact with reference
           to the province of the judge and that of the jury, the
           latter generally determining the fact, the former the
           law. --Burrill --Bouvier.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Accessary before the fact, or Accessary after the fact.
        See under Accessary.
  
     Matter of fact, an actual occurrence; a verity; used
        adjectively: of or pertaining to facts; prosaic;
        unimaginative; as, a matter-of-fact narration.
  
     Syn: Act; deed; performance; event; incident; occurrence;
          circumstance.
          [1913 Webster]

  Accessary \Ac*ces"sa*ry\ (277), n.; pl. Accessaries. [Cf.
     Accessory and LL. accessarius.] (Law)
     One who, not being present, contributes as an assistant or
     instigator to the commission of an offense.
  
     Accessary before the fact (Law), one who commands or
        counsels an offense, not being present at its commission.
        
  
     Accessary after the fact, one who, after an offense,
        assists or shelters the offender, not being present at the
        commission of the offense.
  
     Note: This word, as used in law, is spelt accessory by
           Blackstone and many others; but in this sense is spelt
           accessary by Bouvier, Burrill, Burns, Whishaw, Dane,
           and the Penny Cyclopedia; while in other senses it is
           spelt accessory. In recent text-books on criminal law
           the distinction is not preserved, the spelling being
           either accessary or accessory.

  accessary after the fact
     n.
     (alternative spelling of en accessory after the fact)

  accessary after the fact
     n.
     (alternative spelling of en accessory after the fact)

  accessary after the fact
     n.
     (alternative spelling of en accessory after the fact)

  accessary after the fact
     n.
     (alternative spelling of en accessory after the fact)