et al.

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Explanation of "et al."

Definition: "Et al." is a Latin abbreviation that stands for "et alii" (for males), "et aliae" (for females), or "et alia" (for things). It is used in English to mean "and others." We use "et al." when we want to refer to a group of people without naming everyone individually.

Examples:

1. In a research paper, you might say: "The study conducted by Johnson et al. (2020) found significant results."
2. When discussing a book with multiple authors, you could say: "In the anthology edited by Smith et al., many important themes are explored."

Advanced Usage:

• In academic references, you often only list the first author's name followed by "et al." if there are more than three authors. For example, "Miller, J., Smith, A., Johnson, R., et al. (2018)".
• In legal or formal documents, "et al." can be used to refer to additional parties involved without naming each one.

Word Variants:

• There are no direct variants of "et al." as it is a specific abbreviation. However, you might come across related terms like:
  • "et seq." which means "and the following" and is used in legal writing to refer to the following pages or sections.

Different Meanings:

• "Et al." primarily means "and others" in the context of people. It doesn't have a different meaning outside this context.

Synonyms:

• Some synonyms for "et al." could include:
  • "and others"
  • "among others"
  • "and the rest"

Idioms and Phrasal Verbs:

• There are no specific idioms or phrasal verbs that use "et al." as it is a formal term used mainly in academic or professional writing.

Summary:

"Et al." is a useful abbreviation that helps you indicate that there are additional people involved without listing them all. It is especially common in academic writing, where many authors often contribute to a single work.

Academic

Adverb

1. and elsewhere (used when referring to other occurrences in a text)
2. and others ('et al.' is used as an abbreviation of `et alii' (masculine plural) or `et aliae' (feminine plural) or `et alia' (neuter plural) when referring to a number of people)
   • the data reported by Smith et al.

Synonyms

• et al
• et alibi
• et alii
• et aliae
• et alia