First recorded in 1530–40; abbreviation of videlicet ( def. ), the -z representing the common medieval symbol for Latin et or -et
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
For example, where Bromley sounds pedantic or confused, the index picks this up: “Chatham, where and how situated, viz., on the other Side Rochester Bridge, though commonly reported to be on this Side, p. 1.”
From Slate • Feb. 21, 2022
Mr. Willman, as ſeen in the Trailer, performs great and terrible Feats of Witchcraft and Sorcery, heedleſs of the Damnation that muſt ſurely follow, viz.:
From Slate • Aug. 12, 2018
But you will have to pay a 15% tax, viz., three lousy seasons at the end of it all during which time hopefully your team will be positioned for its next run.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2016
Synesthetes, as these individuals are called, lead normal, healthy lives except that they experience additional sensations to sensory stimuli, viz. colors or tastes for words, touch for sounds, and so on.
From Scientific American • Oct. 20, 2015
For Locke there are ‘three degrees of Knowledge, viz. Intuitive, Demonstrative, and Sensitive: in each of which, there are different degrees and ways of Evidence and Certainty’.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
