Meanings
adverbobiter (not comparable)
- formalnot comparableIncidentally; in passing.
I will not here stand to discuss obiter, whether stars be causes, or signs; or to apologize for judicial astrology.
1621, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York: New York Review Books, published 2001, →ISBN, page 206
nounobiter (plural obiters)
plural obiters
- lawAn 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.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁óp(i)
- Proto-Italic*op
- Latinob
- Latinob-
- Latiniter
- Latinobiter
- Englishobiter
Borrowed from Latin obiter.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
obiter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obiter
MLA
“obiter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obiter. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “obiter,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/obiter.
Source: obiter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.