Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adverb At first sight; before closer inspection.
- adjective True, authentic, or adequate at first sight; ostensible.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun At first view or appearance. See
at prime face , under prime, a. - noun 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.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- At first view; on the first appearance.
- (of a fact) (Law), evidence which is sufficient to establish the fact unless rebutted.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb law at first sight; on the face of it
- adjective law
apparently correct; not needingproof unless evidence to thecontrary is shown
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb at first sight
- adjective as it seems at first sight
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
[Middle English, manifestly, from Latin prīmā faciē : prīmā, feminine ablative of prīmus, first + faciē, ablative of faciēs, shape, face.]
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Latin
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word prima facie.
Examples
Sorry, no example sentences found.
singlepayernow commented on the word prima facie
at first glance without additional investigation; self-evident; obvious
November 30, 2007