What does 'etcetera' mean?

For those of us who like to gloss over details sometimes, nothing will ever beat Elaine Benes’ patented phrase “yada yada yada,” but etcetera is a close second. Adopted into English straight from Latin, etcetera (also written as etc.) means “a number of unspecified additional persons or things”; it’s often used at the end of lists to imply there are more entries than those explicitly enumerated. But rather than wrap this edition up quickly by closing with etcetera now, let’s take a closer look at the word’s origins and meaning.

This useful word started out as two distinct words in Latin: et (meaning “and”) and cetera (meaning “the other”). The abbreviation of etc. is so common today that someone is likely to understand its usage even without knowing the full phrase, but there is an earlier abbreviation that has fallen out of use. Going back to the 15th century, there are writings that use the abbreviation &c. (The first symbol is the ampersand, which means “and.”) This particular usage was extended to formal letter writing, as it was common to use )&c. later in the letter to replace the title of the person to whom the letter was addressed. Though far less common today, there’s evidence of people writing &c. throughout the 20th century.

You may also come across the Latin abbreviation et al.), which is short for either et alii (masculine), et aliae (feminine), or et alia (neuter), but this isn’t a substitution for etcetera, even though this Latin phrase translates to “and others.” Despite similarities to etcetera, et al. is mainly used as a substitute for multiple names written in a bibliographical context. You’re likely to see et al. in written works with many citations. We hope that helps you sort through your Latin phrases, abbreviations, lists, etc.