viz.
/vɪz/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.19 in modern English
15
Scrabble Score
3
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
adv
Videlicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.
Example Sentences
- "I am at this period, viz. in 1812, living in a cottage; […]"
- "The fact is, when Captain Dobbin blushed so, and looked so, it was necessary to inform the young ladies, viz., that he had been calling at Mr. Sedley's house already, […]"
- "This, however, makes it necessary to distinguish between two different types of gaps, viz. between “singular NP gaps” and “plural NP gaps.”"
- "As to (b), the joint intention, like any intention, commits the intending agents to carry out its content, viz. to act."
Etymology
From Medieval Latin viꝫ, from Latin vidēlicet (“that is to say, namely”), short for vidēre licet (“it is permitted to see”, literally “to-look (it) allows”). The ‘z’ comes from the similarity between ꝫ (‘et’) and the cursive form of the letter z, with the former having originated as a common abbreviation (specifically, a Tironian note), used by Latin scribes in the Middle Ages, for the suffix -et (among others). Compare ⁊ (‘et’), the Tironian symbol for the Latin word et (“and”) and for its equivalents in other European languages (including Old English and) in medieval times.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
- Root: viꝫ, vidēlicet
Inflected Forms
vid. (alternative)
videl. (alternative)
Frequently Paired Words
⁊