alibi Latin · revision 4019

15 Oct 2026, 20:51 by bogdan “New Latin entry (sources: de Vaan, OLD, Lewis & Short, TLL...)” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=Naevius|origins=la alius, la ibī}}
+ 
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA (Classical): [ˈa.lɪ.biː]^(Wiktionary)
+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈaː.li.bi]^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Forms==
+ '''alibī''' (not comparable)^(Wiktionary)
+ 
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[af|la|alius|ibī|t1=other|t2=there]].^(Wiktionary)^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010) The OLD analyses it as ''alius'' with the ending [[m|la|-bi]] of [[ubi|alt=ubī]].^(OLD 2012) Lewis & Short take it as a contraction of [[m|la|aliubī]].^(Lewis & Short 1879)
+ 
+ ==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.^(OLD 2012) Köbler dates Naevius about 235–200 BC.^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ It meant in another place, elsewhere.^(OLD 2012) Cicero uses it of another passage of a book, and Plautus and Terence of another matter or in other respects.^(OLD 2012)^(Gaffiot 2016) Lewis & Short note that it was rare in Cicero and the poets but very frequent after Augustus, especially in Pliny.^(Lewis & Short 1879) In medieval Latin it also meant “here … there”, “partly … partly”, and “to another place”.^(MLW)^(Köbler 2010)
+ 
+ English ''alibi'', a plea of having been elsewhere when a crime was committed, was borrowed from the adverb in 1743.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 235–200 BC – Naevius uses it in a comedy.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of place and of other matters.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of another passage.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)
+ * 1743 – English ''alibi'' is recorded as a legal plea.^(Etymonline)
+ 
+ ==Meanings==
+ ===Adverb===
+ # In another place, [[m|en|elsewhere]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)
+ # In another passage of a book or speech.^(OLD 2012)
+ # In another matter, otherwise, in other respects.^(OLD 2012)
+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' ''alibi … alibi'', here … there, partly … partly.^(MLW)
+ 
+ ==Related words==
+ * [[en|alibi]]
+ 
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}