ALIBIS

Alibis is the plural form of alibi. An alibi is an account, supported by evidence when possible, that places a person somewhere else when an incident occurred. If two suspects each say they were away from the scene, investigators may need to check both alibis.

In a criminal investigation, alibis can be checked against witnesses, receipts, camera footage, travel records or other evidence. A convincing alibi could show that someone was not present when a crime took place, but a claim alone is not automatically proof.

In casual English, alibis may simply mean excuses: reasons people give for not doing something. This broader use is common, even though the legal sense is more precise. The singular word is alibi (pronounced with a final “eye” sound); the plural ends with a “z” sound.

The plural alibis comes from the singular alibi, borrowed from Latin alibi ("elsewhere"), related to alius ("other") and ibi ("there"). The -s is the English plural ending.