English

Adjective

counterfactual

1. Contrary to the facts; untrue.
   • 2014 September 15, Martin Gayford, “There's more to Ming than a vase [print version: 16 August 2014, pp. R6–R7]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Review):

     What would have happened if those great Chinese voyages [by Zheng He] had continued? It's one of those questions in counter-factual history about which it is impossible to be sure.

Translations

Noun

counterfactual ‎(plural counterfactuals)

1. A claim, hypothesis, or other belief that is contrary to the facts.
2. (philosophy) A conditional statement in which the conditional clause is false, as "If I had arrived on time . . .".^[1][2]
   • 1952, B. J. Diggs, "VI.—Counterfactual Conditionals," Mind, vol. 61, no. 244, page 513:

     In recent years there has been increasing discussion of the "problem of counterfactuals". One way of formulating this problem is as follows: "What is meant when one asserts a conditional statement, the antecedent of which is contrary to fact?"

References

1. ↑ "counterfactual" in A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names (Garth Kemerling, 1997-2002)
2. ↑ Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary (1987-1996)