A+ Club Lesson Planner & Study Guide

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

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

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

Sources

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