viz.

• vid., videl.

From Latin videlicet (“that is to say, namely”), short for videre licet (“it is permitted to see”). The ‘z’ was originally not a letter but a common Middle Latin scribal abbreviation that was used for -et, specifically a Tironian note. The symbol resembled ‘z’, or rather 3 and Ȝ, and hence is thus represented in type. Compare ⁊, the Tironian symbol for Latin et (“and”) (in isolation, not as suffix).

Usually read out as namely, to wit, or occasionally videlicet. Otherwise pronounced as follows:

• IPA^(key): /vɪz/

viz. (not comparable)

1. Videlicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair. A novel without a hero.:

     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, […]

   • 1993, Hans Kamp and Uwe Reyle, From Discourse to Logic: Introduction to Modeltheoretic Semantics of Natural Language, Formal Logic and Discourse Representation Theory‎, page 51:

     This, however, makes it necessary to distinguish between two different types of gaps, viz. between “singular NP gaps” and “plural NP gaps.”

   • 2012, Matti Sintonen, Realism in Action: Essays in the Philosophy of the Social Sciences‎:

     As to (b), the joint intention, like any intention, commits the intending agents to carry out its content, viz. to act.

viz. is used to introduce a list or series. It differs from i.e. in that what follows normally expands upon what has already been said, rather than merely restating it in other words; and from e.g. in that completeness or near-completeness is suggested, rather than a small selection of examples.

• See namely

• viz. on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• ⁊