Latin terms and abbreviations
Some useful Latin terms & their abbreviations and usage
Common Latin terms
Carpe diem
- "seize the day"
Festina lente
- means "make hast slowly"
- used as advice to do something with urgency but care
Lorem ipsum
- "lorem" is not a word
- the term was made up by printers as "filler" or "place holder" text
- i.e., nonsense words used to occupy formatted space
- see:
Qui bono
- = "who benefits?"
- i.e., what is a possible motive?
- when analyzing an event or situation, an investigator will want to ask "qui bono" as to why something occurred
- knowing who benefits will frequently yield both motive and cause
Sic transit
- means "thus passes the glory of the world"
- used to express a moment of fleeting glory
Status quo
- means "existing state of affairs"
- "status quo" is a non-count noun, so it does not change with plurality
Common Latin abbreviations
c.
- circa
- = "approximately" or "around" (as in about the same)
- ex. "The island was populated c. 1500 bc."
- or "The system processed circa 10,000 data points"
Cf.
- confer / conferatur
- meaning "compare"
- used to "signal" to the reader that the source is supportive of the author's text
- as opposed to a direct citation or source
- see Citation
e.g.
- exempli grati
- = "for the sake of an example" or "for example"
- ex. "Junk food, e.g., candy or ice cream, is yummie but bad for you"
- e.g. is usually set aside by parentheses
- ex. "Junk food (e.g., candy or ice cream) is yummie but bad for you"
etc.
- et cetera
- = "and others" or "and the rest"
- ex. "At the grocery store, I bought junk food like donuts, cookies, ice cream, etc."
i.e.
- id est
- = "that is" or "thereby"
- ex. "Junk food is yummie but bad for you; i.e, I shouldn't eat it."
- usage rules:
- i.e. is lowercase, even at the beginning of a sentence
- i.e. is followed by a comma (i.e., ...)
- i.e. is not a coordinating conjunction (i.e., it does not combine independent clauses; i.e., use a semicolon like this)
- i.e. is often set aside by parentheses (i.e., like this)
sic
- sci
- ("sic" is not an abbreviation)
- = "thus" or "so"
- used to indicate that a quotation or word usage or spelling that is uncommon or non-standard is from the original text or speaker
- generally used in brackets, viz, [sic]
- ex. "The man with a heavy French accent said, "May I rent w rhume?"[sic]
viz
- videlicet
- = Latin for "it is permitted to see"
- = "namely" or "specifically" (as in a clarification)
- used to add details, examples or a list
- ex. "Politicians are corrupt, viz. my representative, your representative and all of our representatives."
- viz is generally followed by a list specifying or detailing the prior statement
vs. or v.
- versus
- = "against" or "opposed to, or "as opposed to"
- used for comparison or contrast
- ex. "My idea v. yours."
Less common Latin abbreviations
N.B.
- nota bene
- = "note well" or "pay attention"
- used to emphasize a main point
- ex. "N.B.: "the abbreviation for "nota bene" is the only Latin abbreviation in this list that should be capitalized"
sc
- contraction scilicet
- = "it is permitted to know", "it is certain", "you may be sure"
- = similar to "viz", but used to clarify as opposed to adding details or examples
- ex. "
- sc is also shown as "ss"
- usually for legal documents
- see https://abclegaldocs.com/blog-Colorado-Notary/scilicet-ss-meaning-notary-certificate/
Latin abbreviations used for citations, legal documents and bibliographic or textual references
et al.
- et alii"
- = "and others"
- ex. "The book written by Jones, et al. was most interesting"
ex ante
- ex = from
- ante = before
- used to show that an analysis of a future event or prediction is based upon prior evidence
ex post
- ex = from
- post = after
- used to analyze past probabilities based on actual events
idib. & id.
- ibidem= "in the same place" or "same as above"
- "id" = "the same person"
- used in bibliographies
- ex.
1. Jones, et al. p. 238 2. Ibid, 249
- note: "loc. cit." and "op.cit." are less commonly used for "ibid" and "id."
inf. & sup.
- "infra" = "below"
- "supra" = "above"
- used to refer to information previously or subsequently
- as in "see below" or "see above"
passim
- passim (not abbreviated)
- = "here and there" or "throughout"
- used to indicate that information or a reference will be used frequently
q.v.
- quod vide
- = "which see" or "for more on this topic"
- tells the reader that additional information is found elsewhere or later in the text
s.n.
- sine anno
- = "without a date", for unknown publication date
s.l.
- sine loco
- = "without a place", as in origin unknown
- usually used to reference an unknown place of publication
s.n.
- sine nomine
- = "without a name", for the publisher is unknown
s.v.
- sub verbo
- = "under the word"
- used to cite a dictionary or encyclopia entry
- archaic and not commonly used any more