obelus
Americannoun
noun
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a mark (— or ÷) used in editions of ancient documents to indicate spurious words or passages
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another name for dagger
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of obelus
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin < Greek obelós spit, pointed pillar
Explanation
In math, an obelus is a symbol that means "divided by," while in an ancient text it's an editorial mark on a line or word that is incorrect or doubtful. An obelus typically looks like this: ÷, a horizontal line with dots above and below. It's familiar to anyone who's done arithmetic problems such as 12÷3=X. The original obelus conveyed "remove or cut this" in a text, with just a line symbolizing a dart or dagger. The two dots appeared later, as did a dagger-shaped version that's often added beside a person's name to mean "deceased." The word itself has a Greek root meaning "sharpened stick."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
One way is to interpret the obelus, or ÷ symbol, as dividing everything to the left of it by to the right of it.
From Slate • Mar. 12, 2013
In his peculiar notation, Asides are marked by inverted commas, and obvious stage business is indicated by an obelus.
From The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [9 vols.] Introduction and Publisher's Advertising by Clark, William George
The Marks *, †, ‡, &c.—What is the origin of the asterisk, obelus, &c., used for references to notes?
From Notes and Queries, Number 59, December 14, 1850 by Various
Maximus est obelus circus quem maximus olim Condidit et Sixtus maximus inde trahit.
From The Care of Books by Clark, John Willis
Thus at the end of the first letter of Book III we find a doubly pointed obelus opposite an interesting passage, the text of which shows no variants or editorial questionings.
From 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 by Lowe, E. A. (Elias Avery)
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
