obiter scriptum

English

Etymology

Latin: obiter scrīptum (“[a thing] written on the way”), from obiter (“on the way, incidentally”) + scrīptum (“text, anything written, writing”). Formed on the pattern of the earlier obiter dictum, with which it is often paired (especially in the plural).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɒbɪtɚ ˈskɹɪptəm/

Noun

obiter scriptum (plural obiter scripta)

1. (formal) A smaller piece, written during the process of writing a larger piece, which is supplementary or incidental to that larger piece; something written on the way to writing something else; a subsidiary composition or publication.
   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:obiter scriptum.

Translations

something written on the way to writing something else