et al.
Writing & Everyday abbreviation · Latin
| Stands for | Et alii (and others) |
|---|---|
| Categories | Writing & Everyday |
et al. stands for Et alii (and others), a Latin abbreviation.
Shortens a list of people, most often the authors of a source, to the first name plus "and others." Academic style guides set exact thresholds for when it replaces the full author list in the text and in reference lists.
Example: Smith et al. (2021) found that a single night without sleep slowed reaction times in every age group tested.
Usage notes
Only "al." takes a period, because "et" is a complete Latin word; "et. al." is a frequent mistake. The Latin may be alii (masculine), aliae (feminine) or alia (neuter), all shortened the same way. APA 7 uses et al. for three or more authors from the first in-text citation, while MLA 9 uses it in the works-cited entry for three or more authors. It is not italicized in APA or Chicago.
Related abbreviations
More Latin abbreviations
- CV – Curriculum vitae (course of life)
- d. – Denarius (penny)
- D.G. – Dei gratia (by the grace of God)
- D.V. – Deo volente (God willing)
- del. – Delineavit (drew it)
- e.g. – Exempli gratia (for example)
- et seq. – Et sequens (and what follows)
- etc. – Et cetera (and the rest)
- ex lib. – Ex libris (from the books of)
- F.D. – Fidei defensor (Defender of the Faith)
- fec. – Fecit (made it)
- fl. – Floruit (flourished)