obiter dictum
/ˌoʊbɪɾɚ ˈdɪktəm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.65 in modern English
19
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
3
Syllables
10
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An incidental remark; especially (law) a statement or remark in a court's judgment that is not essential to the disposition of the case.
Example Sentences
- "All I know is that we had a patent suction jack—for of course we daren't use leverage—capable of raising five tons dead weight drawing on a stone weighing something less than five hundredweight and it couldn't budge it a hair. No, sir; do what we might it had us beaten to cold cinders. And if you want my obiter dictum I should say the biggest thing in W.S. enigmas is waiting patiently there for some bright boy to come along and scoop it."
- "Casual obiter dicta by men of accepted godliness belonged to a different category from the ecstatic claims to immediate revelation made by obscure persons who thrust themselves into the limelight […]."
- "However, McHugh J noted obiter dicta that if the meaning of the word was construed at that level of abstraction today, ‘it would deny the Parliament of the Commonwealth the power to legislate for same sex marriages[…]’."
Etymology
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌoʊbɪɾɚ ˈdɪktəm/
- British English: /ˌəʊbɪtə ˈdɪktəm/