cf.
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Cf. is an abbreviation for the Latin-derived (but also modern English) word confer, meaning "compare" or "consult", and is hence used to refer to other material or ideas which may provide contrasting information or arguments. It is mainly used in scholarly or educated contexts, such as in academic (mainly humanities) or legal texts.[1] "Cf." is commonly misused to mean, "see", as in "cf. Figure 10", but should only be used to imply "a contrast or disagreement".[2]
It is sometimes used (primarily in dictionaries) to imply insight into the preceding word's etymology, that is, to suggest how one term obtained its particular naming convention (perhaps from another phrase). For example, the phrase "Big Whack (cf. Big Bang)" suggests to the reader that the nickname "Big Whack" is derived from the name "Big Bang".
In the system of binomial nomenclature, "cf." is similarly used to indicate that the species needs to be seen in context of its comparison to another, but by definition is not confirmed as the same. For example "Corvus cf. splendens" indicates "a bird similar to the House Crow but not certainly identified as this species". For this reason many mistakenly believe that "cf." is an abbreviated form of "confirmed" or "inconfirmatus".
Correctly formatted, the abbreviation has a single period after it (that is, not "c.f.") because it represents a shortening of the single word confer, and, as a foreign word, may be set in italics, depending on the style manual or house style. Use of italics for abbreviations of foreign words and phrases has become less common in modern usage, especially for such common abbreviations as cf., e.g., i.e., and viz.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Scholarly Abbreviations at LaTrobe University
- ^ according to "Planning, proposing, and presenting science effectively" by Jack Parker Hailman, Karen B. Strier
