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obelus

noun
/ˈɒbɪləs/UK/ˈɑbələs/US

Etymology

From Middle English obelus, obelo, from Old English obelus, from Late Latin obelus (“critical mark”), from Koine Greek ὀβελός (obelós, “critical mark”), Ancient Greek ὀβελός (obelós, “rod, spit; obelisk; critical mark”). The further etymology is uncertain; a derivation from βέλος (bélos, “arrow, dart, missile”) (from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelH- (“to pierce; to reach; to throw; to hit by throwing”)) has been suggested, but the initial vowel remains unexplained. Compare obelisk. The plural form obeli is derived from Late Latin obeli, from Ancient Greek ὀβελοί (obeloí).

  1. derived from ὀβελοί
  2. derived from obeli
  3. derived from *gʷelH-✻ — “to pierce; to reach; to throw; to hit by throwing”
  4. derived from ὀβελός — “rod, spit; obelisk; critical mark”
  5. derived from ὀβελός — “critical mark”
  6. derived from obelus — “critical mark”
  7. inherited from obelus
  8. inherited from obelus

Definitions

  1. A symbol resembling a horizontal line (–), sometimes together with one or two dots (for…

    A symbol resembling a horizontal line (–), sometimes together with one or two dots (for example, ⨪ or ÷), which was used in ancient manuscripts and texts to mark a word or passage as doubtful or spurious, or redundant; an obelisk.

    • The ancienteſt of all is that of the Library of M. Colbert, which contains part of Exodus, Numbers, and Leviticus, of the Tranſlation of the Septuagint, with Lines call'd Obeli and Aſteriſks, as we find them in the Hexapla of Origen.

  2. A dagger symbol (†), which is used in printed matter as a reference mark to refer the…

    A dagger symbol (†), which is used in printed matter as a reference mark to refer the reader to a footnote, marginal note, etc.; beside a person's name to indicate that the person is deceased; or beside a date to indicate that it is a person's death date; an obelisk.

    • I have translated the Oxford Classical Text of C[harles] Hude (3rd edn., Oxford, 1927), except at the places marked in the translation with an obelus (†), which refer the interested reader to a note in the Textual Notes.

The neighborhood

Derived

double obelus, obelic, obelised, obelized

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for obelus. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA