Viz.
//vɪz// adv
adv ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Adverb
- 1 Videlicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration. not-comparable
"I am at this period, viz. in 1812, living in a cottage; […]"
Adverb
- 1 as follows wordnet
Example
More examples"I am at this period, viz. in 1812, living in a cottage; […]"
Etymology
From Medieval Latin viꝫ, from Latin vidēlicet (“that is to say, namely”), short for vidēre licet (“it is permitted to see, look (it is) legal”). The ‘z’ was originally not a letter but a common Middle Latin scribal abbreviation ꝫ 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. Compare ⁊, the Tironian symbol for Latin et (“and”) (in isolation, not as suffix).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.