How Aristotle Named His Sources. On parasemainesthai and related terms

Among Aristotle’s recommendations on how to collect extracts from the works of other authors, the act of παρασημαίνεσθαι plays a role that is often misunderstood. This paper argues that the proper meaning of this technical term is that of recording alongside the extracts, usually in the margins, the names of authors whose words are quoted anonymously in the body of the text. This practice should also be considered when trying to explain why many quotations by Aristotle and his associates are anonymous or attributed to a generic τις, with special reference to works by medical authors.