Latin Terms and Abbreviations

Latin abbreviations should be kept out of the main body of a text. They should appear
only in footnotes.
Latin abbreviations correctly used can make your writing sound more sophisticated and
scholarly.
Also, knowing what these abbreviations mean helps you understand other works.

etc.
etc. stands for et cetera, which translates literally as “and the other things”. It means
there’s more on the list that are left out so the list does not get too long:
All of the objects in our solar system (planets, comets, etc.) orbit the sun.

e.g. and i.e.

These two sometimes get confused.
e.g. stands for exempli gratia, = “for example”
“There are many types of stupid people e.g. imbeciles, idiots, dolts, cretins and morons”

i.e. stands for id est, which translates literally as “that is.” It’s like an = sign; “that is to
say the same thing in other [maybe clearer!] words”.
“I told you to remove yourself, i.e. clear off!”

N.B.
The abbreviation N.B. stands for nota bene, which literally translates as “note well” -
“pay attention!”
N.B. is the only Latin abbreviation that comes in CAPITALS
N.B.: they told us their medical histories, but we weren’t allowed to see their medical
records to confirm the accuracy of what they said.

cf.
The abbreviation cf. stands for the Latin word confer which means “compare” - “but
compare this to.”
The Bible states Jesus is the Son of God; cf. the Koran which also speaks highly
respectfully of Him.

sic
sic means “thus” and is used for verbatim quotations where the error in the original is
still kept included.
“this sentence contains a spelling misteak” [sic]

versus (vs. or v.)

Versus means “against” - often used in court cases! “Sir Barrie v. SPCBA”

circa
circa means “around” or “approximately,” it usually appears with dates.
“The Pyramids were built circa 2000 BC.”
et al.
et al. stands for et alii which translates as “and other people.” It is used for books that
have several authors (usually four or more) to save space.
“The Illustrated History of SPCBA by Sir Barrie Edwards et al.”

ibid.
ibid. stands for the Latin word ibidem, which means “in the same place.” It is used in
footnotes when you cite the same source serveral times.
1. Sir Barie, pages 99-101.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., 197.

passim
passim means “everywhere” or “throughout.” It is used when an idea occurs in many
different places in a book.
“For students cheating in San Pedro College see The Illustrated History of SPCBA by
Sir Barrie Edwards [passim]”

loc. cit. and op. cit.

loc. cit. stands for loco citato, “in the place cited,” whereas op. cit. stands for opere
citato “in the work cited.”
It’s when you refer a second time to the same book in a citation: “I referred to this book
before”
The Illustrated History of SPCBA [op.cit.]

inf. and sup.

inf. and sup. stand for infra and supra, which mean “below” and “above” - “see below”
and “see above”.

viz.
viz. stands for videlicet which means “that is to say.” It is used to clarify something by
giving more details -
Sir Barrie has written two grand-children, viz. Chloe and Conan

q.v.
q.v. stands for quod vide, which means “see that thing,” although in practice it means
something more like “see more details about this somewhere else in the book”
“the decline and fall of SPCBA is described in The Illustrated History of SPCBA by Sir
Barrie Edwards [q.v.]”

Finally, here are just a few ‘logic’ terms in Latin -

ad hominem = to the man. When you attack a person rather than what
he’s saying; “Sir Barrie is ugly, so his argument must be wrong”

argumentum ad populum = argument to the people. Everybody else is

doing it, so it must be right! “everybody is smoking cigarettes, so it can’t be
bad for you”

ad infinitum = it goes on and on right out to infinity -

Big fleas have little fleas
on their backs to bite ‘em;
and little fleas have smaller fleas,
and so, ad infinitum….”

similar is ad nauseam = it goes on and on until it makes you sick! When

you repeat the same thing over and over again ….

ipso facto = by the same fact. The President of America is ipso facto a US
citizen. [The US Constitution says, “no person except a natural born
citizen . . . shall be eligible to the office of President” - so Arnold
Schwarzenegger can be Governor of California, but not President - as he
was born in Austria]

ipso jure = by the law. “if Sir Barrie dies in the middle of the term, you will
ipso jure pass his subject!” [even if you haven’t done any work… ]

non sequitur = it does not follow. “It’s raining, so it must be Tuesday”

post hoc, ergo propter hoc = after this, therefor because of this. Just
because one thing happened before something else, does not mean it
caused it! “I sneezed and all the lights went out; therefore, sneezing
causes power cuts!”

Q.E.D. = quod est demonstrandum, the thing has been demonstrated - I’ve
proved my point!

reductio ad absurdum = reduce it to the absurd. To prove your point by

giving an extreme - ‘absurd’ - example! “all my friends skipped class, so it’s
OK for me to.” “if all your friends jumped off the top of a tall building, would
you jump too?”
Latin Abbreviations - quiz. This is to be done as a classroom
activity, NOT ‘homework’! Answer ALL the questions - do not
leave any ‘blanks’ - and don’t ‘leave bits out’!
 You can do this with the person sitting next to you - just TWO - not your usual “big groups”
 both ‘names’ on the yellow paper for a ‘joint mark’
 You can refer to the notes
 Do NOT “crib” from the internet or other sources [‘cut-and-paste’]

A]
 What is an abbreviation?
 What’s the purpose of using them?
 Why is it that many abbreviations are in Latin?

B] Please abbreviate the following -

1. There were two sides in World War II - the Allies going up against the Axis powers.

2. [footnotes]
i] Tolstoy, Leo, War & Peace, Penguin edition, London [1986] page 1
ii] Tolstoy, Leo, War & Peace, Penguin edition, London [1986] page 3
iii] Tolstoy, Leo, War & Peace, Penguin edition, London [1986] page 12

3. For Hitler’s evil character, see Ron Rosenbaum’s book ‘Explaining Hitler’ [he refers to it all the
time right the way through the book]

4. Hitler’s evil character is described in Ron Rosenbaum’s book ‘Explaining Hitler’ [you should
check this book out to see more]

5. [book title - mentioned in a footnote]

College English, by Doctor Sterling Miranda-Plata, Rafael Villar, Pam Yu, Ma. Conception
Montenegro and Cerise Crudo

6. Please explain yourself, or to put it in simple words, make it clear to me

7. The Great Wall of China was built over a long period of time around about 250 B.C.
 What do the letters B.C. and A.D. stand for?

8. Make sure you note carefully that you are allowed to look at the notes when doing this quiz.

9. “in spelling, I know the difference between rite and rong” [I quote this including Sir Barrie’s
original spelling mistake, which is his error and not mine]

10. There are seven dwarves in Disney’s ‘Snow White’ and their full names are Doc, Grumpy,
Happy, Sleepy, Bashful, Sneezy, and Dopey

11. There are many types of little people in fairytales - dwarves, hobbits, elves, fairies, gnomes,
goblins, imps, leprechauns, pixies, sprites, brownies and kelpies.

12. Sir Barrie’s quizzes are hard, just the same as Sir JayJay who also sets difficult questions.