viz.

/vɪz/

adverb

Videlicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.

Meanings

adverbviz. (not comparable)

alternative vid. · alternative videl.

  1. 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 119
    3 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, →OCLC

    This, 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 51

    As 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 Sciences

    Synonyms: 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

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latinvidēlicet“that is to say, namely”
  2. Medieval Latinviꝫ
  3. 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.

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.

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

viz.. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viz.

MLA

“viz..” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viz.. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “viz.,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/viz..

Source: viz. on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.