alibi

From the 18th century, from Latin alibī (“elsewhere, at another place”, adverb). Probably after French alibi, which has this use since the late 14th century.

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈæl.ə.baɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

alibi (plural alibis)

2. (law) The plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed.

   to set up an alibi

   to prove an alibi

   • 1959, Danny Dill and Marijohn Wilkin, “Long Black Veil”:

     The judge said, “Son, what is your alibi? If you were somewhere else, then you won’t have to die.”

   • 1988, Criminal Law Deskbook, →ISBN:

     Alibi is different from all of the other defenses . . . it is based upon the premise that the defendant is truly innocent.

4. (sometimes proscribed) An excuse, especially one used to avoid responsibility or blame.
   • 1984, Jocelyn Brown, “Somebody Else's Guy”, in Somebody Else's Guy:

     That day in September, I'm sure you can remember / That's when all the stuff hit the fan (the stuff hit the fan) / You told me a lie, and you didn't have an alibi / But baby, yet I still cared

• A very good alibi might be described e.g. as perfect, watertight, airtight, solid or iron-clad. A bad alibi may be said to be implausible or paper-thin or to not hold/tread water.
• Some argue alibi should not be used colloquially to mean an explanation or excuse to avoid blame or justify action, since this sense is unrelated to the word's original meaning of elsewhere.

alibi (third-person singular simple present alibis or alibies, present participle alibiing, simple past and past participle alibied)

1. (transitive) To provide an alibi for.
2. (transitive) To provide an excuse for.

• Alibi on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Defense (legal) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Locked-room mystery on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Perfect murder on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• baili

Borrowed from Latin alibī.

• IPA^(key): /ˈaː.liˌbi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ali‧bi

alibi n or m (plural alibi's, diminutive alibietje n)

1. [[]]alibi

• → Indonesian: alibi

Borrowed from Latin alibi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑlibi/, [ˈɑ̝libi]
• Rhymes: -ɑlibi
• Syllabification^(key): a‧li‧bi
• Hyphenation^(key): ali‧bi

alibi

1. alibi

• “alibi”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2 July 2023

Inherited from Middle French alibi (14th c.), borrowed from Latin alibī.

• IPA^(key): /a.li.bi/

• Audio:

  (file)

alibi m (plural alibis or (archaic) alibi)

1. alibi

• “alibi”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Internationalism chiefly via German Alibi (“alibi”), from Latin alibī (“elsewhere, at another place”). First attested in 1839.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈɒlibi]
• Hyphenation: ali‧bi
• Rhymes: -bi

alibi (plural alibik)

1. alibi (plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed)
2. alibi (excuse, especially one used to avoid responsibility or blame)

   Synonyms: kibúvó, mentség, ürügy

or

• alibi in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.
• alibi in Ferenc Pusztai, editor, Magyar értelmező kéziszótár [A Concise Explanatory Dictionary of Hungarian] (ÉKsz.²), 2nd, expanded and revised edition, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2003 (online searchable version under development).
• alibi in Nóra Ittzés, editor, A magyar nyelv nagyszótára [A Comprehensive Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (Nszt.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2006–2031 (work in progress; published a–ez as of 2024).

Borrowed from Dutch alibi, from Latin alibī (“elsewhere, at another place”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈali.bi]
• Hyphenation: ali‧bi

alibi (plural alibi-alibi)

1. alibi:
   1. (law) the plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed
   2. (slang) excuse

      Synonym: alasan

• “alibi” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from Latin alibi.

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.li.bi/
• Rhymes: -alibi
• Hyphenation: à‧li‧bi

alibi m (invariable)

1. alibi

• Libia, abili, bilia

• aliubi (rare)

From alius (“other, another”) +‎ ibī.

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈa.lɪ.biː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈaː.li.bi]

alibī (not comparable)

1. elsewhere, somewhere else

• “alibi”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “alibi”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• alibi in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Learned borrowing from Latin alibī.^[1][2] First attested in 1802.^[3][4]

• IPA^(key): /aˈli.bi/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ibi
• Syllabification: a‧li‧bi

alibi n (indeclinable)

1. (law) alibi (plea or mode of defense under which a person on trial for a crime proves or attempts to prove being in another place when the alleged act was committed)
2. (literary) alibi (excuse, especially one used to avoid responsibility or blame)

• alibi in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• alibi in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• J. Karłowicz, A. Kryński, W. Niedźwiedzki, editors (1900), “alibi”, in Słownik języka polskiego (in Polish), volume 1, Warsaw, page 24

Borrowed from French alibi.

alibi n (plural alibiuri)

1. alibi

alibi

1. stone tiles of a roof

àlībi m inan (Cyrillic spelling а̀лӣби)

1. alibi

Borrowed from Latin alibī.

• IPA^(key): /ˈalibi/

alibi n

1. alibi

Indeclinable.

• “alibi”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

alibi n

1. (law) alibi

   Hon saknar alibi för mordnatten

   She has no alibi for the night of the murder

2. (by extension) an alibi (excuse, more generally)

• alibi in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• alibi in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• alibi in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)