English

Adverb

obiter ‎(not comparable)

1. Incidentally; in passing.
   • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York, 2001, p.206:

     I will not here stand to discuss obiter, whether stars be causes, or signs; or to apologize for judicial astrology.

Noun

obiter ‎(plural obiters)

1. (law) An obiter dictum; a statement from the bench commenting on a point of law which is not necessary for the judgment at hand and therefore has no judicial weight, as opposed to ratio decidendi. Please note that obiter is only a noun in english for the purpose of law. In true latin it is always an adverb and therefore does not have a plural form.

Coordinate terms

• ratio decidendi
• ratio

Anagrams

• torbie

Latin

Adverb

ŏbĭter

1. On the way.
2. Incidentally.

References

• obiter in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obiter in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Félix Gaffiot (1934), “obiter”, in Dictionnaire Illustré Latin-Français, Paris: Hachette.