Common Abbreviations

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• A.D. (C.E.) – anno Domini – “in the year of the Lord”
• a.m. – ante meridiem
• B.C.E. - before common era
• p.m. – post meridiem
• C.E. - common era
• cf. – confer – “bring together”, “compare” – imperative of conferre
• ead. – eadem – “the same (woman)” – used to avoid repeating a female author’s name
• et al. – et alii/alia – “and others” – for people
• etc. – et cetera – “and (the) others/rest” – not for people
• e.g. – exempli gratia – “for example”, “for instance” – introduces an example, as opposed to an explanation
• f. (ff.) – folio/foliis – “and following” – unspecified number of pages following specific page
• ibid. – ibidem – “in the same place” – usually with a page number
• id. – idem – “the same (man)” – used to avoid repeating a male author’s name in citations
• i.e. – id est – “that is”, “in other words” – introduces an explanation (as opposed to an example)
• op. cit. – opera citatio – “in the work cited” – roughly akin to ibid, but more general
• pro tem. – pro tempore – “for the time being”, “temporarily”
• Q.E.D. – quod erat demonstrandum – “that which was to be demonstrated”
• r. – regnavit (rexit) – “he/she reigned/ruled” – used with monarchs to indicate regnal years as opposed to birth and death dates
• R.I.P. – requisesca(n)t in pace – “may he/she/they rest in peace”
• sc. – scilicet – “it is permitted to know” – parenthetic clarification, potentially of an omitted word
• Sic – sic erat scriptum – “thus it was written” – indicates preserved mistake in a quotation
• viz. – videlicet – “namely”, “to wit”, “that is to say” – detailed, potentially complete list