alibi

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈa.lɪ.biː]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.li.bi]^[1]

Forms

alibī (not comparable)^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin alius (“other”) + ibī (“there”).^[1][2][3] The OLD analyses it as alius with the ending -bi of ubī.^[4] Lewis & Short take it as a contraction of aliubī.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Naevius, in a comic fragment, contrasts one hand busy in one place with a foot tripped elsewhere, and Plautus uses it often.^[4] Köbler dates Naevius about 235–200 BC.^[3]

Semantic evolution

It meant in another place, elsewhere.^[4] Cicero uses it of another passage of a book, and Plautus and Terence of another matter or in other respects.^[4][6] Lewis & Short note that it was rare in Cicero and the poets but very frequent after Augustus, especially in Pliny.^[5] In medieval Latin it also meant “here … there”, “partly … partly”, and “to another place”.^[7][3]

English alibi, a plea of having been elsewhere when a crime was committed, was borrowed from the adverb in 1743.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it in a comedy.^[4][3]
• c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of place and of other matters.^[4][3]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of another passage.^[4][3]
• 1743 – English alibi is recorded as a legal plea.^[8]

Meanings

Adverb

1. In another place, elsewhere.^[4][1]
2. In another passage of a book or speech.^[4]
3. In another matter, otherwise, in other respects.^[4]
4. (Medieval Latin) alibi … alibi, here … there, partly … partly.^[7]

Related words

• English alibi

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
7. ^ a b Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com