ex post facto
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
From what is done after- wards; retrospective. An ex post facto law is a law made to meet and punish a crime after the offence has been committed.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “ex post facto” mean?
From what is done after- wards; retrospective. An ex post facto law is a law made to meet and punish a crime after the offence has been committed.
Is “ex post facto” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.