obiter dictum
\ɔ.bi.tɛʁ dik.tɔm\
The verdict
“obiter dictum” is outside the top-ranked French vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency French
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Dans une décision de justice, désigne un passage indicatif, une opinion, qui ne justifie pas la décision.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | obiter dictum |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | \ɔ.bi.tɛʁ dik.tɔm\ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “obiter dictum” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for obiter dictum is 13 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ɔ.bi.tɛʁ dik.tɔm\. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Dans une décision de justice, désigne un passage indicatif, une opinion, qui ne justifie pas la décision.".
obiter dictum has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct French form is obiter dictum, spelled O-B-I-T-E-R- -D-I-C-T-U-M.
Definition
- 1Dans une décision de justice, désigne un passage indicatif, une opinion, qui ne justifie pas la décision.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “obiter dictum”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is O-B-I-T-E-R- -D-I-C-T-U-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ɔ.bi.tɛʁ dik.tɔm\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.