The expression “etc” It is much more than an abbreviation: it is the living testimony of a linguistic journey along two thousand years, from Hellenism to social networks. Every time we send a WhatsApp message with the abbreviation “Etc.” or “Etc.” We are talking Latin. “Etc.” is in fact a small, functional word that seems trivial, but of ancient origin. Derives from the Latin Et cet rollrawhich literally means “And the other things”: “Et” in fact it is a conjunction that means “and” or “and”, in this case associated with “cetera”, plural neutral of Ceterumor “the others (things)”.
It is therefore used as an abbreviation of “and so on” or “and everything else”, so as to cut a long list or avoid repeating what has already been said.
Even before Latin, there was a similar expression in ancient Greek: καὶ τὰ ἕτερα (Kai ta hétera), with the same meaning. This shows us that the need to shorten lists, avoiding unnecessary and clumsy repetitions, was already rooted in classical thought. In the late Latin then, Et cetera It becomes more and more common in administrative, religious and legal documents, as a useful form to indicate implicated things, similar or discounted, becoming a synthesis formula common to all.
Originally, the expression “Ceterum; cetera“It is composed of the proto -italic root”hetero– “(” other “) united with the particle there is- (“Here”), making almost a small call: “Here is still more”. During the Middle Agesthe use of “Et cetera“It is also consolidated in vulgar and notary texts. The expression enters permanently in the Italian language already in the 300, transforming itself graphically and phonetically into”etc.“, With the doubling of the” C “, typical of the Italian pronunciation according to the different cases, and is accompanied by an ever stronger diffusion in the written language.
As the Vocabulary Treccani “etc.”It’s one elliptical formula: what is omitted is something already known, easily predictable or considered irrelevant. However, the omission itself transmits a message: those who listen must guess what is missing without being explicit.
But the formula has also been modernized and, over time, “etc.“It was accompanied by various abbreviations:
- & c. (where & represents “et”) used until the nineteenth century in the English and Italian documents.
- etc. International form, now used in English, French and German.
- etc. Official Italian form, present in school, journalistic and legal texts.
