ET CETERA Definition & Meaning

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et cetera

[et set-er-uh, se-truh]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adverb

and others; and so forth; and so on (used to indicate that more of the same sort or class might have been mentioned, but for brevity have been omitted): etc.
He had dogs, cats, guinea pigs, frogs, et cetera, as pets.

et cetera

/ ɪt ˈsɛtrə /

and the rest; and others; and so forth: used at the end of a list to indicate that other items of the same class or type should be considered or included
or the like; or something else similar

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Usage

Et cetera , a Latin phrase, appears in English writing most frequently in its abbreviated form, etc . This phrase is used frequently in technical and business writing, somewhat less frequently in general informal writing, and sometimes in literary or formal writing. Expressions such as and so forth and and so on are useful substitutes. Because “and” is included in the meaning of et cetera , the expression and et cetera is redundant.

It is unnecessary to use and before etc as etc ( et cetera ) already means and other things. The repetition of etc, as in he brought paper, ink, notebooks, etc, etc, is avoided except in informal contexts

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Pronunciation Note

Pronunciations with substituted for the first : , or , although occasionally used by educated speakers, are usually considered nonstandard.

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of et cetera¹

First recorded 1100–50; late Old English, from Latin et ��ŧ�ٱ��, equivalent to et “and” + ��ŧ�ٱ��, accusative neuter plural of ��ŧ�ٱ��ܲ� “the rest of, the remainder”

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of et cetera¹

from Latin, from et and + cetera the other (things)

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

"Knowledge of the Italian language, not having criminal charges, continuous residence et cetera - all the various requirements remain the same," explains Carla Taibi of the liberal party More Europe, one of several backers of the referendum.

From

"Once Donald Trump said there was nothing to see here, essentially, and once Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe said there was no sensitive information, no classified information, et cetera - we felt like, hm, we disagree," he said.

From

She said "ideas like this are vital to our children", but said the "the difficulty is, although we are getting 60p per child and and 78p per free school meal child, it's not enough to cover the cost in terms of staffing, the food, resources, et cetera."

From

The monologues, the letters, et cetera.

From

As you probably know, I say, “You can always become a state, and if you’re a state, we won’t have a deficit. We won’t have to tariff you, et cetera, et cetera.”

From

etcetera etceteras

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