![]() ![]() In medieval Latin, “z” was the usual contraction for et or -et, which explains the presence of “z” in the abbreviation “viz.” ![]() The original Latin word is composed of the stem of videre (“see”), plus licet (“it is permissible”). That other scholarly abbreviation, “viz.,” is short for “videlicet” (in Latin videlicet means “it may be seen”). The two standard dictionaries we rely on the most- Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) and The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (5th ed.)-say “i.e.” means simply “that is.” It introduces an explanation of a phrase, “one obvious difference.” In the sentence you mention-“But they had one obvious difference, i.e., their ears”-the abbreviation is correctly used, according to the OED definition. In English, the Oxford English Dictionary says, the term means “that is to say” or “that is,” and is “used to introduce an explanation of a word or phrase.” We used “i.e.” in that posting to explain how it differs from “e.g.”Īs we wrote, “i.e.” is an abbreviation of “id est” (in Latin id est means “that is”). In fact, better writers don’t use either of these scholarly abbreviations, though we’ve occasionally slipped up on our blog. And the use of “viz.” in nonscholarly writing would stop readers in their tracks. These abbreviations may not be identical, but the difference between them is so slight that it nearly vanishes on close examination. Burchfield, author of the latest edition of Fowler’s. ![]() from i.e.”Ī: Here we must disagree with you and, to some extent, with R. 3rd ed.) says, “Care should be taken to distinguish viz. Other similar words that are often confused are "including" and "such as." Read this article to understand their usage better.Q: I came across the following on your blog: “But they had one obvious difference, i.e., their ears.” In my opinion, “i.e.” is not correct here-it should be “viz.” They are, admittedly, close in meaning, but as Fowler’s Modern English Usage (rev. For example, consider the sentence “The present paper evaluates the effect of major weather variables, namely precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity, on crop growth.” Namely makes it clear that the paper is about the evaluation of only three weather variables, and not about any others such as evaporation and the number of sunshine hours. Lastly, if all members of a group are to be named - an exhaustive list and not merely an illustrative one - namely, or its Latin form viz. stands for Latin id est, which means in other words and separates two versions which mean the same, the first version being typically more compact. rainfall and snowfall, were collected from local weather offices.” The abbreviation i.e. If the term precipitation needs to be explained, the author can write “Data on precipitation, i.e. Used thus, the abbreviation implies that precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity were not the only variables recorded perhaps evaporation, the number of sunshine hours, and the intensity of radiation were also recorded. In the previous sentence, the term “variables” is explained by giving examples of some variables that were recorded. stands for Latin exempli gratia, which means for example. precipitation, temperature, and relative humidity.” The abbreviation e.g. What the three have in common is that all serve to elaborate the word or words that come before where they differ relates to the nature of that elaboration, that is whether the elaboration consists of examples, rephrasing, or a list, as shown below.Ĭonsider the sentence “A number of weather variables were recorded, e.g. However, the use of e.g. is not all that rare sometimes, it is incorrectly interchanged for i.e., and this blog post shows how the two are different and how they relate to another abbreviation, viz., which simply means namely. cit., commonly used in citing sources, are seldom seen now. ![]() Latin abbreviations are increasingly rare in today's scientific writing: the Council of Science Editors recommends and others instead of et al. and such abbreviations as op. ![]()
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