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Obiter dictum
Opinion of a judge having no direct legal or binding effect on the outcome of
a pending judicial decision. An obiter dictum is considered to be an incidental judicial remark about some point that may or may not be directly relevant to the matter before the bench. For example, while ruling in favor of a mortgagor in a foreclosure action brought by the mortgagee, a judge states an obiter dictum to the mortgagor saying "in the future, pay your bills on time".