Meanings
alternative vid. · alternative videl.
- not comparableVidelicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.
I am at this period, viz. in 1812, living in a cottage; […]
1821 September–October, [Thomas De Quincey], “[Part II.] Introduction to the Pains of Opium.”, in Confessions of an English Opium-Eater, 2nd edition, London: […] [J. Moyes] for Taylor and Hessey, […], published 1823, →OCLC, page 1193 more examples
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, […]
1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLCThis, however, makes it necessary to distinguish between two different types of gaps, viz. between “singular NP gaps” and “plural NP gaps.”
1993, Hans Kamp, Uwe Reyle, From Discourse to Logic: Introduction to Modeltheoretic Semantics of Natural Language, Formal Logic and Discourse Representation Theory, page 51As to (b), the joint intention, like any intention, commits the intending agents to carry out its content, viz. to act.
2012, Matti Sintonen, Realism in Action: Essays in the Philosophy of the Social SciencesSynonyms: namely, especially, in especial, in particular, namely, particularly, peculiarly, specially
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbVidelicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.
More synonyms by meaning
adverbas follows
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinvidēlicet“that is to say, namely”
- Medieval Latinviꝫ
- Englishviz.
From Medieval Latin viꝫ, from Latin vidēlicet (“that is to say, namely”), short for vidēre licet (“it is permitted to see”, literally “to-look (it) allows”). The ‘z’ comes from the similarity between ꝫ (‘et’) and the cursive form of the letter z, with the former having originated as a common abbreviation (specifically, a Tironian note), used by Latin scribes in the Middle Ages, for the suffix -et (among others). Compare ⁊ (‘et’), the Tironian symbol for the Latin word et (“and”) and for its equivalents in other European languages (including Old English and) in medieval times.
More words from Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch nl., d.w.z.
- nl.abbreviation for namely
- d.w.z.abbreviation for namely
- t.t.z.abbreviation for namely
Esperanto nome
- nomeabbreviation for namely
French c.-à-d.
- c.-à-d.abbreviation for namely
German d.h., näml.
- d.h.abbreviation for namely
- näml.abbreviation for namely
Greek ήτοι, δηλ.
- ήτοι (ítoi)abbreviation for namely
- δηλ. (dil.)abbreviation for namely
Hungarian tudniillik, mégpedig
- tudniillikabbreviation for namely
- mégpedigabbreviation for namely
- éspedigabbreviation for namely
- úgymintabbreviation for namely
Polish tj.
- tj.abbreviation for namely
Russian то́ есть, а и́менно
- то́ есть (tó jestʹ)abbreviation for namely
- а и́менно (a ímenno)abbreviation for namely
Spanish a saber, concretamente
- a saberabbreviation for namely
- concretamenteabbreviation for namely
Swedish d.v.s.
- d.v.s.abbreviation for namely
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with viz.
Cite this entry
viz.. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viz.
“viz..” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viz.. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “viz.,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viz..
Source: viz. on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.