Useful Latin Abbreviations

A.D. (Anno Domini), "in the year of the Lord."

A.M. (Ante Meridiem), "before midday," in the morning, before noon.

c., ca., ca or cca. (circa), "around (about, approximately)."

cf. (confer), "compare.”

Example: "These results were similar to those obtained using different techniques (cf. Wilson, 1999 and Ansmann, 1992)."

C.V. or CV (curriculum vitae), "course of life." A curriculum vitae is a written summary of job experience and education, similar to a resume, but usually in an academic context.

e.g. (exempli gratia), "for example."

Example: "The shipping company instituted a surcharge on any items weighing over a ton, e.g. a car or truck."

ibid. (ibidem), "in the same place” (in the same book, etc.) It is often used in footnotes where books are cited as references.

id. (idem) "the same (man)." Also used in footnotes, etc. to avoid repeating the name of a male author where a different work by the same author is cited.

NOTE: if a female author is being cited, the abbreviation is ead. (eadem), "the same (woman)."

i.e. (id est) means "that is" or "in other words."

Example: "For reasons not fully understood there is only a minor PSI contribution to the variable fluorescence emission of chloroplasts (Dau, 1994), i.e. the PSI fluorescence appears to be independent from the state of its reaction centre (Butler, 1978)."

N.B. (nota bene) means "note well". Some people use "Note" for the same purpose. Usually written with upper case letters.

Example: "N.B.: All the measurements have an accuracy of 5% as they were calibrated according to the procedure described by Jackson (1989)."

op. cit. (opere citato) means in the same article, book etc. as was mentioned before. It is most often used in citations in a similar way to 'ibid', though 'ibid' would usually be followed by a page number.

P.M. (Post Meridiem), "after midday," in the afternoon.

pro tem. (pro tempore), "for the time being", temporarily, in place of.

P.S. (post scriptum) means "after what has been written"; it is used to indicate additions to a text after the signature.

Q.E.D. (quod erat demonstrandum) means "which was to be demonstrated". Cited in many texts at the end of a mathematical proof. Usually written in upper case letters.

q.v. (quod videre), literally "which to see" -- used after a term or phrase that should be looked up elsewhere in the current document or book. For more than one term or phrase, the plural is quae videre (qq.v.).

viz. (videlicet) means "namely, to wit, precisely, that is to say."

Example: "The noble gases, viz. helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton and radon, show a non-expected behaviour when exposed to this new element."

NOTE: i.e., e.g. and viz. are often used incorrectly – one substituted incorrectly for the other, one used when the other is meant.

vs. or v. (versus) means "against" (sometimes is not abbreviated).

A.M.D.G. (Ad maiorem Dei gloriam or ad majorem Dei gloriam) : Latin for "For the greater glory of God". It is the motto of the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits). At one time, students in Catholic schools wrote “A.M.D.G.” at the top of every written assignment, homework, test, etc.

et seq. (et sequens), et seqq or et sequa. (et sequentes, or et sequentia) : "and the following" (use et seqq or et sequa. if "the following" is plural). Not unlike the full colon [ : } which means "the following" i.e. that which follows is a listing of that which precedes the ' : '. ( Incorrectly used, "the following:" ).

inst. (instante mense), "this month." Often seen in 19th-century correspondence and other documents – “Regarding your letter of the 4th inst.” Meaning”Regarding your letter of the 4th of this month.”