Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A mark (— or ÷) used in ancient manuscripts to indicate a doubtful or spurious passage.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A mark, so called from its resemblance to a spit, usually made like a dash, thus —, or like an obelisk, thus , and employed in ancient manuscripts to indicate a suspected passage or reading.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Print.) A mark [thus —, or ÷]; -- so called as resembling a needle. In old MSS. or editions of the classics, it marks suspected passages or readings.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A mark (÷) used to represent
division in mathematics. Also used to indicate a written or printed passage, and in ancient manuscripts to mark a word or passage as spurious or doubtful. - noun A
dagger mark (†) used as a reference mark in printed matter, or to indicate that a person is deceased, often used to indicate afootnote .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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Andrians and Corinthians, and the decree for the mutilation of the captives, of which Philokles was the author.] [Footnote 149: Golden crowns, at this period of Greek history, was the name applied to large sums of money voted by cities to men whose favour they hoped to gain.] [Footnote 150: A spit is called obelus in Greek.] [Footnote 151: Probably of each of the Spartan admirals who had commanded during the war.
Plutarch's Lives, Volume II 46-120? Plutarch 1839
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_ -- What is the origin of the asterisk, obelus, &c., used for references to notes?
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In the Latin text, the start and end of passages which are deeply corrupt and therefore difficult to correct are indicated by an asterisk, instead of the usual dagger (obelus).
The Last Poems of Ovid 43 BC-18? Ovid
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Hexapla, the obelus was prefixed to words or lines which were wanting in the Hebrew, and therefore, from Origen's point of view, of doubtful authority, while the asterisk called attention to words or lines wanting in the Septuagint, but present in the Hebrew.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 7: Gregory XII-Infallability 1840-1916 1913
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But such was not the usage of Budaeus; he employed the obelus merely to call attention to something that interested him.
A Sixth-Century Fragment of the Letters of Pliny the Younger A Study of Six Leaves of an Uncial Manuscript Preserved in the Pierpont Morgan Library New York Edward Kennard Rand 1908
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The simple obelus apparently denotes interest, the pointed obelus great interest, the doubly pointed obelus intense interest, and the pointing finger of a carefully drawn hand burning interest.
A Sixth-Century Fragment of the Letters of Pliny the Younger A Study of Six Leaves of an Uncial Manuscript Preserved in the Pierpont Morgan Library New York Edward Kennard Rand 1908
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The purpose of the doubly pointed obelus is plainly indicated here, as it accompanies two of these catchwords.
A Sixth-Century Fragment of the Letters of Pliny the Younger A Study of Six Leaves of an Uncial Manuscript Preserved in the Pierpont Morgan Library New York Edward Kennard Rand 1908
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It is remarkable, for instance, that on a passage (65, 11) which, as the appended obelus shows, he must have read with attention, he has not added the very different reading of the Parisinus.
A Sixth-Century Fragment of the Letters of Pliny the Younger A Study of Six Leaves of an Uncial Manuscript Preserved in the Pierpont Morgan Library New York Edward Kennard Rand 1908
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In accurate copies these words are marked with an obelus, [1532] which is the sign of rejection.
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Strabo xi. 507, et sq. [1532] The obelus (/-) is used by Jerome to mark superfluous matter in the lxx.cf. Jer.p. 494, in Canon Fremantle's Translation.
reesetee commented on the word obelus
A symbol consisting of a line with dots above and below (÷) used to represent the mathematical division operation. Originally, this sign (or a plain line) was used in ancient manuscripts to mark passages that were suspected of being corrupted or spurious. The word comes from the Greek word for a sharpened stick, spit, or pointed pillar--the same root as that of "obelisk." Obelus is sometimes used to refer to another symbol usually known as a dagger.
September 14, 2007
ulleskelf commented on the word obelus
I wish more people used the obelus. Rather than 2/3 :(
May 1, 2009
qms commented on the word obelus
The task of the editing tribe
Is chiding the indifferent scribe
With signs not too obvious,
Discreet, like the obelus,
That seem more a hint than a jibe.
September 26, 2017
ruzuzu commented on the word obelus
Oh, excellent, qms. Well done!
September 26, 2017
qms commented on the word obelus
Thank you, kind ruzuzu.
September 26, 2017