obiter Latin · revision 33565

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=derivation|attested=106–43 BC, Laberius|origins=ine-pro *h₁opi}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''obiter''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[der|la|ob|t=towards, in front of]], but its formation is disputed.^(TLL)^(OLD 2012) The OLD and Wiktionary take it from [[m|la|ob]] and [[m|la|iter|t=way]], “on the way”, and the grammarian Priscian already called it a compound of the two;^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(TLL) the TLL thinks this unlikely and compares the adverb ending in [[m|la|circiter|t=about]] beside [[m|la|circā]].^(TLL) De Vaan traces [[m|la|ob]] to [[itc-pro|*op(i)]] and [[ine-pro|*h₁opi|t=at, by]], cognate with [[osc|úp|t=at]] and [[grc|ἐπί|tr=epí|t=on, at]].^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lewis & Short and Köbler find it first in Laberius;^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010) otherwise Lewis & Short find it no earlier than the Augustan age, and report from Charisius that Augustus blamed Tiberius for writing ''per viam'' instead of ''obiter''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its first sense is on the way, in passing: Juvenal has someone who will read or write on the way,^(OLD 2012) and Pliny the Elder has water that turns mill wheels as it flows along.^(Lewis & Short 1879) From this it came to mean at the same time, meanwhile, as in Petronius, where people did not keep quiet even at a tiresome task but sang the while,^(OLD 2012) and incidentally, besides, into the bargain.^(OLD 2012) Of speech and writing it means in passing, cursorily, as in Pliny the Elder's ''haec sint obiter dicta'', “let this be said in passing”.^(OLD 2012) Rarely it means straightaway, as in Apuleius.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In medieval British Latin it means on the way and also meanwhile.^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 106–43 BC – Laberius uses it.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius, “at the same time” and “into the bargain”.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder, of things said in passing.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 67–c. 127 AD – Juvenal, of reading on the way.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # On the way, en route, in passing.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # At the same time, meanwhile.^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)

+ # [[m|en|incidentally|alt=Incidentally]], besides, into the [[m|en|bargain]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of speech or writing: in passing, cursorily.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Straightaway, [[m|en|immediately]] (rare).^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[ob]]

+ * [[iter]]

+ * [[en|obiter dictum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}