fait accompli

See also: Fait accompli

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French fait accompli (“a completed fact”), from fait (“a fact”) + accompli (“completed; accomplished”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌfeɪt.əˈkɔm.pli/, /ˌfeɪt.əˌkɔmˈpli/, /fɛt-/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

fait accompli (plural faits accomplis)

1. Something which has already happened, before those affected had the chance to raise objections or queries; especially, such a thing that cannot be undone.

   Coordinate term: end run

   Thanks to a bureaucratic fait accompli, the demolition was already approved and has already started.

   • 1857, Anthony Trollope, “Mr. Slope’s Parting Interview with the Signora”, in Barchester Towers. […], copyright edition, volume II, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, published 1859, →OCLC, page 272:

     Mr. Quiverful's appointment to the hospital was, however, a fait accompli, and Mr. Harding's acquiescence in that appointment was not less so.

   • 1913, Saki, When William Came, Chapter VII:

     “In quarters where the fait accompli is an object of solicitude,” said Yeovil.

   • 2003, Matthew Restall, Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 65:

     The phrase “Spanish Conquest” and all it implies has come down through history because the Spaniards were so concerned to depict their endeavors as conquests and pacifications, as contracts fulfilled, as providential intention, as faits accomplis.

   • 2018, Shoshana Zuboff, chapter 10, in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism:

     [Hal] Varian awards surveillance capitalists the privilege of the experimenter's role, and this is presented as another casual fait accompli.

2. An action or establishment that cannot be undone.

   Near-synonyms: done deal, water under the bridge

   The introduction of white clover to the Americas is a fait accompli.

Translations

an accomplished fact

• Arabic: أمر واقع m
• Azerbaijani: baş tutmuş fakt
• Bulgarian: свършен факт m (svǎršen fakt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 既成事實 / 既成事实 (zh) (jìchéng shìshí)

• Danish: fait accompli
• Dutch: voldongen feit n
• Finnish: tapahtunut tosiasia
• French: fait accompli (fr) m
• German: vollendete Tatsache f, Fait accompli (de) n
• Greek: τετελεσμένο γεγονός (el) n (tetelesméno gegonós)
• Hebrew: עובדה מוגמרת f (uvdá mugméret), מעשה עשוי m (ma'asé asúy)
• Hungarian: kész helyzet
• Icelandic: orðinn hlutur m, búið og gert n
• Italian: fatto compiuto m
• Japanese: 既成事実 (ja) (きせいじじつ, kisei jijitsu)
• Kyrgyz: болгон иш (ky) (bolgon iş), факт (ky) (fakt)
• Macedonian: свршен чин m (svršen čin)
• Persian: عمل انجام‌شده
• Polish: fakt dokonany m
• Portuguese: fato consumado (pt) m, fait accompli m
• Russian: сверши́вшийся факт m (sveršívšijsja fakt), постфа́ктум (ru) (postfáktum)
• Spanish: hecho consumado m
• Swedish: fullbordat faktum n
• Thai: เรื่องที่ยุติแล้ว (rʉ̂ʉang-tîi-yút-dtì-lɛ́ɛo)
• Turkish: emrivaki (tr), oldubitti (tr), olupbitti (tr)
• Ukrainian: доко́наний факт m (dokónanyj fakt)

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fɛ.t‿a.kɔ̃.pli/

• Audio (Canada (Shawinigan)):

  (file)

Noun

fait accompli m (plural faits accomplis)

1. a fait accompli; a done deal

   placer/mettre quelqu’un devant le fait accompli ― to present somebody with a fait accompli

Descendants

• → Spanish: hecho consumado (calque)
• → Polish: fakt dokonany (calque)

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French fait accompli.

Noun

fait accompli

1. fait accompli; done deal

Further reading

• “fait accompli”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Portuguese

Noun

fait accompli m (plural faits accomplis)

1. fait accompli; done deal