Aiton’s Encyclopedia
A Practical Reference Library in Five Volumes — keyed from the public-domain original
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Alibi

al'i-bi, a Latin word meaning elsewhere. In law, to prove an alibi is to show that the accused was elsewhere when the crime was committed. An alibi is, of course, absolute proof of innocence. It must be confessed, however, that an alibi is established not infrequently by false testimony, with the purpose of clearing a criminal whose case is otherwise desperate.

Volume I · Aiton’s Encyclopedia