"Viz" and "to whit"
Cameron Fairbairn
In an old Robinson Crusoe book (I think), extensive use is made of these
words -- they came up the other day, and I had to confess that although I
read them, I never really for sure understood them. So, here is what I
said:
to whit -- just means for example, but seems specifically to be refering to
real objects.
viz -- also means for example, or could be short for vis-a-vis
Help
Cameron Fairbairn
Thomas Schenk
Thomas Schenk wrote:
> > viz -- also means for example, or could be short for vis-a-vis
~~~~
Whoops... read *videre licet".
--
***************** "But all thing which that shineth as the gold
Dr Thomas M. Schenk Ne is no gold as I have herd it told."
Laguna Beach, CA *The Chanonnes Yemannes Tale*
***************** Geoffrey Chaucer
Thomas Schenk
Cameron Fairbairn wrote:
> So, here is what I said:
>
> to whit -- just means for example, but seems specifically to be refering to
> real objects.
> viz -- also means for example, or could be short for vis-a-vis
*Vide licet* is Latin for "one may see", and its abbreviation is "viz."
Where the "z" came from, I have no idea.
Ciao,
Tom
N.R. Mitchum
Cameron Fairbairn wrote:
---------
> to whit -- just means for example, but seems specifically to be refering to
> real objects.
>
>
>........
When you looked inside your dictionary, you would not have found the
first one because it is spelled "to wit." It means "namely" or "that is
to say."
Your visit to the dictionary should have turned up the second one as
"viz.", which is shorthand for "videlicet" and ought to be read out as
"namely," though all too often it is spoken as just "vizz."
--- NM
[post&mail]
Keith C. Ivey
"Cameron Fairbairn" <cdn...@escape.ca> wrote:
>to whit -- just means for example, but seems specifically to be refering to
>real objects.
to wit [note the spelling] (adv.) -- that is to say : NAMELY
>viz -- also means for example, or could be short for vis-a-vis
viz. -- abbreviation for "videlicet" [nothing to do with
vis-a-vis]
videlicet -- that is to say : NAMELY
The definitions come from _Webster's Ninth New Collegiate
Dictionary_. You might want to invest in a dictionary of
your own.
Keith C. Ivey <kci...@cpcug.org> Washington, DC
Contributing Editor/Webmaster
The Editorial Eye <http://www.eeicom.com/eye/>
Thomas Schenk
, and its abbreviation is "viz."
> Where the "z" came from, I have no idea.
I found the answer to where the "z" came from!
This is really obscure stuff, so you may want to go onto
the next posting now:
It would seem that the "z" is one of those squiggly little
things that one encounters in poring over medieval Latin
manuscripts. The monks used a "7", with a colon crossing
the diagonal bar of the "7", to represent the Latin letters,
"-et". Printers subsequently had no such a symbol in their
armamentarium of type-faces, so they did the next best thing,
and substituted the letter "z" whenerver they encountered it.
It also (sort of) explains why the abbreviation for "ounce" is
"oz." (except that I have no explanation for where the "-et" in
the Latin word for ounce ["uncia"] is to be found). I will leave
that for the cognoscenti of the classics.
My remaining question is: what are those medieval manuscript
squigglies called? I know there is a correct term for them.
Please do not reply "squiggliata", etc.
Thanks,
Jon Robert Crofoot
Thomas Schenk <"tschenk"@ix.netcom.com (Thomas Schenk)>
wrote:
>, and its abbreviation is "viz."
>> Where the "z" came from, I have no idea.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>I found the answer to where the "z" came from!
>This is really obscure stuff, so you may want to go onto
>the next posting now:
>
>It would seem that the "z" is one of those squiggly little
>things that one encounters in poring over medieval Latin
>manuscripts. The monks used a "7", with a colon crossing
>the diagonal bar of the "7", to represent the Latin letters,
>"-et". Printers subsequently had no such a symbol in their
>armamentarium of type-faces, so they did the next best thing,
>and substituted the letter "z" whenerver they encountered it.
>
>It also (sort of) explains why the abbreviation for "ounce" is
>"oz." (except that I have no explanation for where the "-et" in
>the Latin word for ounce ["uncia"] is to be found). I will leave
>that for the cognoscenti of the classics.
>
>My remaining question is: what are those medieval manuscript
>squigglies called? I know there is a correct term for them.
>Please do not reply "squiggliata", etc.
>
>
Introduction" (New York, Garland Publishing, 1994), many of
these squiggliata [sorry... it's a beautiful word] are
called 'Tironian signs', named after Tiro, who was Cicero's
freedman secretary. For instance the "7" character is
called the 'Tironian et' and means the same as the modern
ampersand.
David Casseres
In article <5b92u0$b...@dfw-ixnews9.ix.netcom.com>, Thomas Schenk
<"tschenk"@ix.netcom.com (Thomas Schenk)> wrote:
> , and its abbreviation is "viz."
> > Where the "z" came from, I have no idea.
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> I found the answer to where the "z" came from!
> This is really obscure stuff, so you may want to go onto
> the next posting now:
>
> It would seem that the "z" is one of those squiggly little
> things that one encounters in poring over medieval Latin
> manuscripts. The monks used a "7", with a colon crossing
> the diagonal bar of the "7", to represent the Latin letters,
> "-et". Printers subsequently had no such a symbol in their
> armamentarium of type-faces, so they did the next best thing,
> and substituted the letter "z" whenerver they encountered it.
>
> It also (sort of) explains why the abbreviation for "ounce" is
> "oz." (except that I have no explanation for where the "-et" in
> the Latin word for ounce ["uncia"] is to be found). I will leave
> that for the cognoscenti of the classics.
I don't think the z represents "et". I think it represents the letter c,
which in Medieval Latin had the same pronunciation (before e or i) as the
letter z. Indeed the Latin "uncia" developed into the Spanish (and
Italian?) "onza."
Copy Desk
"To whit" likely refers back to the Old English "te weten", to know, but is
used to indicate an example follows.
t.i.a.
Cameron Fairbairn <cdn...@escape.ca> wrote in article
<01bbff39$27456a60$fee8...@wpg-01.escape.ca>...
> In an old Robinson Crusoe book (I think), extensive use is made of these
> words -- they came up the other day, and I had to confess that although I
> read them, I never really for sure understood them. So, here is what I
> said:
>
> to whit -- just means for example, but seems specifically to be refering
to
> real objects.
>
> viz -- also means for example, or could be short for vis-a-vis
>
> Help
> Cameron Fairbairn
>
Matthew Rabuzzi
Thomas Schenk <"tschenk"@ix.netcom.com> writes:
:
: It would seem that the "z" is one of those squiggly little
: things that one encounters in poring over medieval Latin
: manuscripts. The monks used a "7", with a colon crossing
: the diagonal bar of the "7", to represent the Latin letters, "-et".
: My remaining question is: what are those medieval manuscript
: squigglies called? I know there is a correct term for them.
: Please do not reply "squiggliata", etc.
..........................................
Athetesis Christ and the Twelve Apostilles
Matthew Rabuzzi