dictum

Examples

• All

• On appeal, a panel of the Third Circuit held that the court's previous statements on the topic were not supported by reasons, were mere dictum, and were not even reconcilable with Supreme Court decisions on which they relied.

  Academic text (2016)

• The selection of content was immediately affected by the dictum that the "Geographical Review" was to be read and comprehended.

  Academic text (1990)

• Your Honor, that statement was obiter dictum.

  The Castle (1997)

• We need not rest forever with the dictum from the 1943 Ford Motor Company case that the workplace is not a debating society.

  Academic text (1990)

• Homosexuality or any other sexuality is not a pertinent factor, and was not considered in reaching the decision, making it dictum:

  Blog text (34)

• All Republicans agreed that truth must be permitted as a defense in libel cases, contrary to the dictums of English common law.

  Academic text (2016)

• MM's obiter dictum about classifying music on a left-right scale is worth thinking about.

  Blog text (24)

• As discussed above, in Gibbons v. Ogden, Chief Justice Marshall delivered an influential "first" ruling and rumination—a good bit of it dictum—on the Commerce Clause.

  Academic text (2002)

• The lawyer referenced an earlier dictum to support her argument, although it wasn't binding.

• During the trial, the judge's dictum clarified some aspects of the law, but it was not a final decision.

Synonyms

O

obiter dictum

vsdictum

• Jargon

9.9

A judge's comment in a court opinion that is not part of the decision and is not legally binding

is presented in a single word rather than in two words

Idioms

Q

quidquid Latine dictum sit altum videtur

• Literature

9.9

A humorous saying that Latin words sound more important

Compounds

O

obiter dictum

• Jargon

9.9

A judge's comment in a court opinion that is not part of the decision and is not legally binding

Surface Forms

Etymology