viz.

Definition of viz.

Etymology

From Latin videlicet (“that is to say, namely”), short for videre licet (“it is permitted to see ”). The ‘z' was originally not a letter but a common Middle Latin scribal abbreviation that was used for -et, specifically a Tironian note. The symbol resembled ‘z', or rather 3 and Ȝ, and hence is thus represented in type.

Pronunciation

Usually read out as namely or to wit. Otherwise pronounced as follows:

• IPA: /vɪz/

Adverb

viz. (not comparable)

1. namely, that is to say, as follows, specifically, as an illustration.
   
   * 1848, 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, . . . . (Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray)
   
   * 1993, This, however, makes it necessary to distinguish between two different types of gaps, viz. between “singular NP gaps” and “plural NP gaps.” (Hans Kamp and Uwe Reyle, From Discourse to Logic: Introduction to Modeltheoretic Semantics of Natural Language, Formal Logic and Discourse Representation Theory, p. 51.)

Usage notes

• Often used to introduce a list or series.

Further reading

Viz. (also rendered viz without a period) and the adverb videlicet are used as synonyms for "namely", "that is to say", and "as follows".

Etymology

Viz. is the medieval scribal abbreviation for videlicet; it specifically uses a Tironian abbreviation. It comprises the letters v and i followed by ⁊, the common medieval Latin contraction for et and -et. It has been included in Unicode since version 5.1. The glyph ⁊ for "and" is the only other Tironian abbreviation remaining in use.

Videlicet is a contraction of Classical Latin vid�"re licet, which meant "it may be seen, evidently, clearly" (vid�"re, to see; licet, third person singular present tense of lic�"re, to be permitted). In Latin, videlicet was used to confirm a previous sentence or to state its contrary.

Usage

Viz. is an abbreviation of videlicet, which itself is a contraction from Latin of "videre licet" meaning "it is permitted to see." Both forms introduce a specification or description of something stated earlier; this is often a list preceded by a colon (:). Although both forms survive in English, viz. is far more common than videlicet.

In contradistinction to i.e. and e.g., viz. is used to indicate a detailed description of something stated before, and when it precedes a list of group members, it implies (near) completeness.

• Viz. is usually read aloud as "that is", "namely", or "to wit",[5] but is sometimes pronounced as it is spelt. /ˈvɪz/.
• Videlicet is pronounced /vɪˈdɛlɨsɛt/ or /wɪˈdeɪlɨkɛt/.

A similar expression is scilicet, abbreviated as sc., which is Latin for "it is permitted to know". Sc. provides a parenthetic clarification, removes an ambiguity, or supplies a word omitted in preceding text, while viz. is usually used to elaborate or detail text which precedes it. In legal usage, scilicet appears abbreviated as ss. or, in a caption, as §, where it provides a statement of venue and is read as "to wit". Scilicet can be read as "namely," "to wit," or "that is to say," or pronounced /ˈsɪlɨsɛt/ or /ˈskiːlɨkɛt/.

Examples

• The main point of his speech, viz. that our attitude was in fact harmful, was not understood.
• "My grandfather had four sons that grew up, viz.: Thomas, John, Benjamin and Josiah."
• The noble gases, viz., helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton, and radon, show a non-expected behaviour when exposed to this new element.