Etymologically
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alibi

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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]

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