idem
Americanpronoun
Etymology
Origin of idem
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin īdem
Explanation
In legal or academic writing, idem is used in footnotes to mean "the same as previously mentioned." For a research paper, you can use idem to indicate you're citing a different page of the exact same source. The Latin idem means "the same," and it's usually abbreviated as id. These days, most academics prefer to use the term ibid., or "in the same place," in scholarly bibliographies, or to simply repeat the author's last name. If you do come across idem in footnotes, endnotes, or a legal document, you'll know it means "this information comes from the same work and author as the last citation."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Yet the very word “identity” points toward the trouble: It comes from the Latin idem, meaning “the same.”
From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2018
But banned are such standard and numbing footnote fare as ed. cit., loc. cit., op. cit., idem and ibid.
From Time Magazine Archive
When Guidi asked how the Cardinals had taken his speech, Mathieu replied, “Cum seriâ silentiosâ approbatione,” on which Guidi observed, “Sunt quidam qui idem mecum sentiunt, sed deest illis animi fortitudo.”
From Letters From Rome on the Council by Johann Joseph Ignaz von D?llinger
Down the front of this cope are the words, "Affer opem devenies in idem."
From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Salisbury A Description of its Fabric and a Brief History of the See of Sarum by Gleeson White
Mihi est propositum, as you may see by the motto, idem quod regibus; and behold it cannot be carried out, unless I find a neighbour rolling in cattle.
From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 2 (of 25) by Robert Louis Stevenson
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
