vide

Vide is a Latin term meaning “see” or “refer to.” It’s used in texts to direct a reader to a specific place elsewhere in the text or in another text.

Vide is used in phrases like vide ante (meaning “see before”), vide infra (“see below”), vide post (“see after”), vide supra (see above), vide ut supra (“see as above”), and quod vide, which indicates a cross reference.

Vide can be abbreviated as v., vid. and vid (without a period).

Unrelatedly, the word vide appears in the French-derived term sous vide, which is a cooking technique involving a vacuum-sealed plastic pouch. In sous vide, the word vide translates as “vacuum.”

Example: Additional information can be found in the preceding chapters (vide pp. 44–48).

The first records of vide as an instruction in English texts come from the 1500s. It comes from the Latin verb vidēre, meaning “to see” (vidēre is also the basis of many other English words relating to seeing, including video and vision).

Vide is just one of the many Latin terms traditionally used in texts to instruct the reader or to provide some note about what’s on the page. These are associated with their use in notes or other citations in reference books and scholarly works. Many of these terms have traditionally been used in printed texts, where they are often abbreviated, but this is less common in digital media.

What are some other forms related to vide? 

• vid. (abbreviation)
• v. (abbreviation)
• vid (abbreviation)

What are some synonyms for vide?

• see

What are some words that share a root or word element with vide? 

• vide ante
• vide infra
• vide post
• vide supra
• vide ut supra
• quod vide
• video
• vision

What are some words that often get used in discussing vide?

• page
• chapter
• image
• above
• after
• below
• before

Vide is most commonly used in educational texts or reference works. It’s much less commonly used in works that were originally published in a digital medium.

"quod google" is now used (instead of "quod vide") to indicate that more information can be found through a google search

— Callie Smith (@calpunzel) December 9, 2013

Writing a lecture on Catullus.
Current mood . . . (vide infra)
😆 https://t.co/RKr5sj9gmJ

— Durham Classics and Ancient History (@Durham_Classics) January 24, 2018

Vide infra, vide supra, or basically anywhere Latin is used instead of plain (insert living language of choice here). Get over yourselves academia!

— Dr STABiforth 🥼🔪🩸👻 (@ScienceBurrito) April 17, 2020

In which of the following ways can the Latin term vide be abbreviated?

A. vid.
B. vid
C. v.
D. all of the above