Learn English – Correct usage of “viz.”

adverbsgrammaticalityword-usage

Are these two sentences examples of the correct use of "viz."?

This book is dedicated to my family, viz. my parents and two sisters.

The purpose of this book is twofold, viz. 1) to show that […]; and 2) to demonstrate that […].

Is this technically correct? Even if it is, do you think native English speakers would find it weird or inappropriate?

Best Answer

Yes, those are correct usages. Use viz. just as you would use namely. Wikipedia's examples:

  • The main point of his speech, viz. that our attitude was in fact harmful, was not understood.
  • "My grandfather had four sons that grew up, viz.: Thomas, John, Benjamin and Josiah."
  • The noble gases, viz., helium, neon, argon, xenon, krypton, and radon, show a non-expected behaviour when exposed to this new element.

Viz. is short for the Latin videlicet, which means namely. Though I am a native English speaker, and I would not find this weird or inappropriate, it is uncommon, and most people would have to look it up in a dictionary. It would be better to use namely or that is to say instead.

Edit: I find this Ngram rather informative, too. Once, apparently, viz. was more popular than namely:

Most of the modern usages of viz. are not the abbreviation in question, but nearly all the older ones are.

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