etc

etc

1. This is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase et cetera meaning ‘and other things of the same kind’, and is pronounced et set-ǝr-ǝ or et set-rǝ, despite the temptation to articulate the first syllable ek on the analogy of words such as ecstasy and excellence.

2. It means ‘and so on’ or ‘and the rest’, and can refer to people or things or both. Practice varies regarding the punctuation that precedes and follows etc., but in general it is best to treat it as if it were ‘and so on’, i.e. precede it by a comma when it comes after two or more items already separated by commas (We need pencils, paper, etc.), but not when it comes after a single item or two items without a comma (We need paper etc. / We need some pencil and paper etc.). It should be followed by a comma when a comma would be used in the case of ‘and so on’ (We need pencils, paper, etc., as well as a desk to work on).

3. Since etc. includes ‘and’ in its element et, it is illiterate to write and etc. (or & etc.). The form &c, though once common (and used by Fowler in ordinary writing), is now out of fashion.