different between obelus vs obelize

English

Etymology

From Middle English obelus, obelo, from Old English obelus, from Late Latin obelus (“critical mark”), from Koine Greek ?????? (obelós, “critical mark”), Ancient Greek ?????? (obelós, “rod, spit; obelisk; critical mark”). The further etymology is uncertain; a derivation from ????? (bélos, “arrow, dart, missile”) (from Proto-Indo-European *g?elH- (“to pierce; to reach; to throw; to hit by throwing”)) has been suggested, but the initial vowel remains unexplained. The English word is a doublet of obelisk.

The plural form obeli is derived from Late Latin obeli, from Ancient Greek ?????? (obeloí).

Pronunciation

• Singular:
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?l?s/, /??bl?s/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /??b?l?s/
• Plural (obeli):
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??b?la?/
  • (General American) IPA^(key): /??b??la?/
• Hyphenation: obe?lus

Noun

obelus (plural obeluses or obeli) (typography)

1. (historical) 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.
2. 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.

Usage notes

• Obelus was used in Middle English, but thereafter was displaced by obelisk until the 19th century when both words began to be used with equal regularity.
• An obelus with two dots above and below the line (÷) is now often used in mathematical equations to represent division.

Derived terms

• double obelus (rare)
• obelic
• obelised, obelized (adjective)

Related terms

• obelisk
• obelism (obsolete, rare)
• obelise, obelize

Translations

See also

• double dagger

References

Further reading

• obelus on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Belous, Lobues, besoul, blouse, boules

English

Alternative forms

• obelise

Etymology

From Hellenic Ancient Greek ????????? (obelízein), from ?????? (obelós, “obelus”).

Verb

obelize (third-person singular simple present obelizes, present participle obelizing, simple past and past participle obelized)

1. To mark (a written or printed passage) with an obelus; to judge as spurious or doubtful. [from 17th c.]
   • 2015, James Davidson, ‘Laugh as long as you can’, London Review of Books, vol. 37 no. 14:

     All modern classicists like to display due caution before coming to a conclusion and will reluctantly obelise any words in a manuscript that resist obvious emendation before deciding that on balance one version is better than another.

References

• “Obelize, v.” listed on page 12 of volume VII (O–P), § i (O) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [1st ed., 1909]
• “obelize, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]
• “obelize, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [3rd ed., March 2004]