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{{Short description|Latin abbreviation meaning "namely"}}
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{{redirect|Sc.|other uses|SC (disambiguation)}}
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{{Wiktionary|viz.|videlicet}}
The abbreviation '''''viz.''''' (or '''''viz''''' without a full stop) is short for the Latin {{lang|la|'''videlicet'''|italic=yes}}, which itself is a contraction of the Latin phrase '''''videre licet''''', meaning "it is permitted to see".<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]''</ref><ref>''[[A Dictionary of Modern English Usage|The New Fowler's Modern English Usage]]'' (revised third edition, 1998), pp. 825, 828.</ref><ref>''[[American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'' (fourth edition, 2000), p. 1917</ref> It is used as a synonym for "namely", "that is to say", "to wit", "which is", or "as follows". It is typically used to introduce examples or further details to illustrate a point: for example, "all types of data ''viz.'' text, audio, video, pictures, graphics, can be transmitted through networking".<ref>{{cite web|title='videlicet', Random House Dictionary|url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/videlicet?s=t|website=dictionary.com|access-date=19 March 2015}}</ref>

==Etymology==
{{contains special characters}}
''Viz.'' is shorthand for the Latin adverb {{lang|la|videlicet}} using [[scribal abbreviation]], a system of [[medieval Latin]] shorthand. It consists of the first two letters, ''vi'', followed by the last two, ''et'', using {{unichar|A76B|Latin small letter et}}.<ref>{{cite book |title=[[Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable]] |last=Brewer  |first=Ebenezer |year=1970 |publisher=Harper & Row |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/brewersdictionar000544mbp/page/943/mode/1up 943] }} According to Cobham Brewer, the same abbreviation mark was used for "habet" and "omnibus".</ref> With the adoption of [[movable type]] printing, the (then current) [[blackletter]] form of the letter {{angbr|z}}, <math>\mathfrak{z}</math>, was substituted for this symbol since few typefaces included it.<ref name=Hill>{{cite book | title= The Routledge Handbook of the English Writing System |isbn=9780367581565 |chapter=Chapter 25: Typography and the printed English text |first=Will |last=Hill |date=30 June 2020 |chapter-url=https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/703215/1/25HillFinalDV.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220710022857/https://arro.anglia.ac.uk/id/eprint/703215/1/25HillFinalDV.pdf |archive-date=2022-07-10 |url-status=live |page=6 |publisher=Taylor & Francis Limited (Sales) |quote=The types used by Caxton and his contemporaries originated in Holland and Belgium, and did not provide for the continuing use of elements of the Old English alphabet such as thorn <þ>, eth <ð>, and yogh <ʒ>. The substitution of visually similar typographic forms has led to some anomalies which persist to this day in the reprinting of archaic texts and the spelling of regional words. }}</ref>

==Usage==
In contrast to ''[[i.e.]]'' and ''[[exempli gratia|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",<ref name="AMHER1917">''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'' (fourth edition, 2000), p. 1917.</ref> but is sometimes pronounced as it is spelled, viz.: {{IPAc-en|ˈ|v|ɪ|z}}.
* ''Videlicet'' is pronounced {{IPAc-en|v|ɪ|ˈ|d|ɛ|l|ᵻ|s|ɛ|t}} or {{IPAc-en|w|ɪ|ˈ|d|eɪ|l|ᵻ|k|ɛ|t}}<ref name="AMHER1917" /> in English-speaking countries.

===Examples===
* The intended meaning of his speech, ''viz.'' that our attitude was in fact harmful, was not understood.
* The later two problems, ''viz.'' his debt and his back pain, could not be so easily solved.
* "My grandfather had four sons who grew up, viz. Thomas, John, Benjamin and Josiah."<ref>[https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/148 ''The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin''] at Project Gutenberg.</ref>
* The noble gases, viz. helium, neon, argon, krypton, xenon, and radon, show an unexpected behaviour when exposed to this new element.

== Compared with ''scilicet'' ==
{{anchor|Scilicet}}
A similar expression is {{lang|la|scilicet}}, from earlier {{lang|la|scire licet}}, 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, ''[[:wiktionary:scilicet|scilicet]]'' appears abbreviated as ''ss.'' It can also appear as a [[section sign]] (§) in a caption, where it is used to provide a statement of venue, that is to say a location where an action is to take place.

''Scilicet'' can be read as "namely," "to wit," or "that is to say," or pronounced {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|k|iː|l|ᵻ|k|ɛ|t}} in English-speaking countries, or also anglicized as {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|ɪ|l|ᵻ|s|ɛ|t}}.<ref>''[[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language]]'' (fourth edition, 2000), p. 1560.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Cf.]]
* [[See also (disambiguation)|See also]]
* [[Sic]]
* {{wikt-inline|vis-à-vis}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Abbreviations]]
[[Category:Latin words and phrases]]