obelus

Noun

obelus (plural obeluses or obeli)

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.
   • 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.1707, “Palæographia Græca, […] i.e. The Ancient Greek Way of Writing, or a Treatise of the Origin and Progress of Greek Letters, and of the Several Sorts of Greek Writing in All Ages: […] By D....
   • 'Tis pretended that the Divines of Louvain paſs'd the ſame judgment upon the miſplacing this obelus 150 years ago: but they have only ſaid that the Manuſcripts of [Robert] Stephens had the Text of the 7ᵗʰ Verſe entire, and ſo as 'tis printed, unleſs the obelus be placed wrong: I would my ſelf ſay...1722, David Martin, “Of the Obelus Plac’d in the Middle of the 7ᵗʰ Verse, […]”, in The Genuineness of the Text of the First Epistle of Saint John. Chap. v. Ꝟ. 7. […], London: […] W[illiam] and J[ohn]...
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.
   • And, with respect to the Homer of Aristarchus, it is to be considered, that besides the lines, sentences, and long passages, to which that Herod of critics affixed his obelus (†) or stiletto, there were entire books which he found no use on obelising piecemeal; because it was not this line or that...1862, Thomas De Quincey, “Homer and the Homeridæ”, in Dr Samuel Parr or Whiggism in Its Relations to Literature and Other Writings (De Quincey’s Works; V), Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, →OCLC...
   • 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.1998, Robin Waterfield, “Translator’s Note”, in Herodotus, translated by Robin Waterfield, The Histories: A New Translation (Oxford World’s Classics), Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press...