viz.
/vɪz/
"viz" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“viz.” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adverb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 4
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Videlicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.
Corpus desk
Index EN-viz · viz. · English
viz. · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "V" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | viz. |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /vɪz/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “viz.” in English
Rare enough to double-check
viz. is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadverb, transcribed /vɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Videlicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for viz., which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Medieval Latin viꝫ, from Latin vidēlicet (“that is to say, namely”), short for vidēre licet (“it is permitted to see, look (it is) legal”). The ‘z’ was originally not a letter but a common Middle Latin scribal abbreviation ꝫ that was used for -et, spec… The correct English form is viz., spelled V-I-Z-..
Definition
- 1Videlicet: namely, to wit, that is to say, specifically, as an illustration.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how viz. appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I am at this period, viz. in 1812, living in a cottage; […]
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, […]
Etymology
From Medieval Latin viꝫ, from Latin vidēlicet (“that is to say, namely”), short for vidēre licet (“it is permitted to see, look (it is) legal”). The ‘z’ was originally not a letter but a common Middle Latin scribal abbreviation ꝫ 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).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.