obiter

Definition of obiter

Etymology

From Latin obiter.

Adverb

obiter (not comparable)

1. Incidentally; in passing.
   
   * 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, New York 2001, p. 206:
   I will not here stand to discuss obiter, whether stars be causes, or signs; or to apologize for judicial astrology.

Noun

obiter (plural obiters)

1. (law) An obiter dictum; a statement from the bench commenting on a point of law which is not necessary for the judgment at hand and therefore has no judicial weight, as opposed to ratio decidendi.