Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adv. At first sight; before closer inspection: They had, prima facie, a legitimate complaint.
- adj. True, authentic, or adequate at first sight; ostensible: prima facie credibility.
- adj. Evident without proof or reasoning; obvious: a prima facie violation of the treaty.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. At first view or appearance. See at prime face, under prime, a.
- n. A case consisting of evidence sufficient to go to the jury: that is to say, one which raises a presumption of fact, and hence will justify a verdict, though it may not require one.
Wiktionary
- adv. at first sight; on the face of it
- adj. apparently correct; not needing proof unless evidence to the contrary is shown
GNU Webster's 1913
- At first view; on the first appearance.
WordNet 3.0
- adv. at first sight
- adj. as it seems at first sight
Etymologies
- Middle English, manifestly, from Latin prīmā faciē : prīmā, feminine ablative of prīmus, first + faciē, ablative of faciēs, shape, face.
Examples
“The public mind at such a moment falls into the old medieval confusion – he who feeds or shelters a heretic is upon prima facie evidence a heretic himself – he who knows intimately people among whom anarchists arise is therefore an”
“Fa’úlun, and this, standing by itself, might prima facie be taken for a line of the Hazaj (iii.”
“Philistines-from Caphtor, "(Amos 9: 7) and" the remnant of the maritime district of Caphtor "(Jeremiah 47: 4) it is prima facie probable that they were the Caphtorim which came out of Caphtor" who expelled the Avim from their territory and occupied it; in their place, (2: 23) and that these again were the Caphtorim mentioned in the Mosaic genealogical table among the descendants of Mizraim.”
“When the Cumberland's papers were examined by Decaen's officers, and these despatches were read and translated, there was at once a prima facie ground for saying, “this officer is not engaged on purely scientific work; he is the bearer of despatches which might if delivered have an influence upon the present war.””
The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘prima facie’.
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Words that sound dirty but aren't.
When you want to be pedantic AND childish.
titular, masticate, condiment, titmouse, penal, formication, social intercourse, assassination, cacophony, lucubrate, rectify, banal and 117 more...
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D4Divine's list
idiosyncratic, unfathomable, easement, plenary, trenchant, extracurially, periphrastic, prima facie, usurp, vacuous, unctuous, recapitulate and 16 more...
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permanent foreign residents in English
Foreign words and phrases that are perfectly acceptable to use in formal English writing, but still maintain the aura of foreignness. They do not enjoy full citizenship, but remain "alien residents...
prima facie, a priori, a posteriori, avant la lettre, corpus delicti, l'esprit de l'esc..., sans-culotte, memento mori, gesamtkunstwerk, amour propre, guru, deja vu and 25 more...
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Pop Latin
Commonly used Latin expressions
viva voce, vide supre, vide, supra, stet, status quo, sine qua non, sine die, sic, quid pro quo, pro rata, pro bono and 24 more...
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Foreign Words & Phrases for English
This is for words that would be in italics in a work of great literature
galère, fiat justitia rua..., res ipsa loqitur, prima facie, froideur, je ne sais quoi, aperçu, ca va sans dire, mirabile dictu, in utero, sine qua non, faux naïf and 6 more...
singlepayernow at first glance without additional investigation; self-evident; obvious Nov 29, 2007