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Latin was once the universal academic language in Europe. From the eighteenth century authors started using their mother tongue to write books, papers or proceedings. However many Latin abbreviations continued to be used due to their precise simplicity and also Latin's status as a learned language.

Most common abbreviations and usages

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The most common Latin words, abbreviations, and initialisms still in use are:

  • c. & ca. (circa), [BNC prevalence: 3,385 & 16 ] "around (about, approximately)".[2]
  • cf. (confer), [BNC prevalence: 191 ] means "bring together" and hence "compare" (confer is the imperative of the Latin verb conferre).[2]
Example: "These results were similar to those obtained using different techniques (cf. Wilson, 1999 and Ansmann, 1992)."
  • C.V. or CV (curriculum vitae), [BNC prevalence: 147 ] meaning "course of life". A document containing a summary or listing of relevant job experience and education. The exact usage of the term varies between British English and American English.
  • cwt. (centum weight), [BNC prevalence: 15 ] "Hundredweight".[1] N.B. this uses a mixture of Latin and English abbreviation.
  • D G or DEI GRA (Dei gratia), [BNC prevalence: 0 ] "by the grace of God".[1] A part of the monarch's title, it is found on all British coins.
  • ead. (eadem), [BNC prevalence: 0 ] see id. below.
  • et al. (et alii), [BNC prevalence: 2,968 ] means "and others", or "and co-workers".[1] It can also stand for et alia, "and other things".
Example: "These results agree with the ones published by Pelon et al. (2002)."
  • etc. (et cetera) (archaic abbreviations include &c. and &/c.), [BNC prevalence: 7,479 ] means "and the others", "and other things", "and the rest".[1]
Example: "I need to go to the store and buy some pie, milk, cheese, etc."
Example: "The use of a sensor to measure the solar radiation, e.g. a sunphotometer, is necessary in this technique."
  • fl. or flor. (floruit), [BNC prevalence: 57 ] means the period of time during which a person, school, movement or even species was active or flourishing (literally, "he/she/it flourished").[1]
  • F D or FID DEF (fidei defensor), [BNC prevalence: 0 ] "defender of the faith". A part of the monarch's title, it is found on all British coins.
  • ibid. (ibidem), [BNC prevalence: 613 ] means "in the same place (book, etc.)"[1], and is used in citations. It should not be confused with the following abbreviation. It is better pronounced ibídem, with stress on the second -i- (as it was in Latin).
  • id. (idem) means "the same (man)".[1] It is used to avoid repeating the name of an author (in citations, footnotes, bibliographies, etc.) Note that if we are quoting an authoress we should use the corresponding feminine form, i.e. ead. (eadem), "the same (woman)" (eadem is pronounced with stress on the first e-).
Example: "Ernest Hemingway- author (i.a. 'The Sun Also Rises')"
Example: "For reasons not fully understood there is only a minor PSI contribution to the variable fluorescence emission of chloroplasts (Dau, 1994), i.e. the PSI fluorescence appears to be independent from the state of its reaction centre (Butler, 1978)."
Example: "N.B.: All the measurements have an accuracy of 5% as they were calibrated according to the procedure described by Jackson (1989)."
  • nem. con. (nemine contradicente) means "with no-one speaking against". This does NOT mean "unanimously", but simply that nobody voted against - in other words, there may have been abstentions.
  • p.a. (per annum) means "through a year", and is used in the sense of "yearly".[1]
  • P.S. (post scriptum) means "after what has been written"; it is used to indicate additions to a text after the signature.
  • Q.D. (quaque die), "every day", used on medications to indicate when to take.
  • q.v. (quod vide) means "which see".[1] Used after a term or phrase that should be looked up elsewhere in the current document or book. For more than one term or phrase, the plural is quae vide (qq.v.).
  • Re (in re) means "in the matter of", or "concerning". Often used to prefix the subject of replies to memoranda and latterly, emails.
  • REG (regina), "queen". A part of the monarch's title, it is found on all British coins minted when the reigning monarch is a queen. Rex, "king" (not an abbreviation) is used when the reigning monarch is a king.
  • R.I.P. (requiescat in pace), "may he/she rest in peace": a short prayer for a dead person. It can also mean requiescant (plural) in pace, i.e. "may they" etc.
  • sc. (scilicet) means "that is to say".[1][2] Sometimes abbreviated scil. It has mostly been replaced by "i.e."
Example: "I was three sheets to the wind last night, sc. I was extremely intoxicated."
  • viz (videlicet) means "namely".[1] There is no full stop after viz because the -z shows the abbreviation. Some people use "i.e." for the same purpose. However, the use of i.e. can be wrong, as viz should be used, as in the following example, to precede a complete list when the group has already been named collectively.
Example: "The noble gases, viz helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton and radon, show a non-expected behaviour when exposed to this new element."
  • vs or v. (versus) means "against" (sometimes is not abbreviated).
Example: "From Figure 1 that shows force (in newtons) vs. mass (in kilograms) we can derive the acceleration of the body."

Less common abbreviations and usages

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Many words and abbreviations have been in general use, but are not often used nowadays:

  • inter alia : Latin for "among other things", but not an abbreviation.
  • inter alios : Latin for "among others", i.e. people, or legal entities.
  • a.U.c. (ab Urbe condita) : Latin for "from the foundation of the City"[1]: it refers to the founding of Rome, which occurred in 753 BC according to Livy's count. Used as a reference point in ancient Rome for establishing dates, before being supplanted by other systems. Also anno Urbis conditae (a.U.c.) ("in the year that the City [Rome] was founded"). For example, the year 2007 AD is the year 2760 ab Urbe condita (753 + 2007 = 2760); though, rigorously speaking, the year a.U.c. begins on April 21, the birthday of Rome (i.e. the day that Romulus was traditionally believed to have founded the Eternal City).
  • et seq. (et sequens), et seqq. (et sequentes, or et sequentia) : "and the following" (use et seqq. if "the following" is plural).[1]
  • O.D. (oculus dexter) : "the right eye". Used in vision correction prescriptions.
  • O.S. (oculus sinister) : "the left eye". Used in vision correction prescriptions.
  • op. cit. (opere citato) : "in the work that was cited".[1] Used in place of repeating the citation of the most recently referenced work in text.
  • Q.E.C. (quod erat construendum) : "which was to be constructed" (after constructing something, normally to show its existence).
  • s.v. (sub verbo) : "Under the word or heading", as in a dictionary
  • V.C. (vi coactus) : "on constrains". Used when forced to sign ("or else...").

See also

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  • "Common abbreviations in Latin inscriptions published in L'année épigraphique 1888-1993". Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  • "Linguists' Latin". Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  • "Latin words and abbreviations". Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  • "What Latin abbreviations mean". Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  • "LATIN AND GREEK ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH". Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  • "UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE Style Manual" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-04-16.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa "UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE Style Manual" (PDF). Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  2. ^ a b c "COMMONEST ABBREVIATIONS, SIGNS, ETC. USED IN THE APPARATUS TO A CLASSICAL TEXT". Retrieved 2007-04-16.
  3. ^ "Pharmaceutical Latin. Abbreviations". Retrieved 2007-04-16.



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