Tuesday, December 21, 2010

et ux, et vir, et al

OK I meant to post this weeks ago.  I read a blog that said ET UX meant " and spouse".  Well that is not quite correct.  ET UX actually means "and wife".  Legal-Explanations states: (et uhks) n. abbreviation for the Latin words et uxor meaning "and wife." It is usually found in deeds, tax assessment rolls and other documents in the form "John Alden et ux.," to show that the wife as well as the husband own property. "

Now about ET VIR.  This is used when a wife is listed before the husband and means "and husband".  AnswerBag states: "Et vir" is a Latin term that translates to "and man." In legal circumstances, "et vir" is often used to mean "and husband," such as when naming defendants or plaintiffs in a case.

And lastly ET AL  is used when several people are listed on a document and instead of putting all 50 peoples names in the title ET AL is added behind the first name and means " and others".   The free dictionary defines it as: et al - and others ('et al.' is used as an abbreviation of `et alii' (masculine plural) or `et aliae' (feminine plural) or `et alia' (neuter plural) when referring to a number of people); "the data reported by Smith et al."

ET AL is used to include multiple names and both genders (ex. Susie Smith, ET AL).  ET UX is used as "and wife" behind the husband's name (ex. John Doe, ET UX).   ET VIR is used behind the wife's name to mean and husband (ex. Jane Doe, ET VIR).

I have used caps (ET UX) to emphasize the abbreviations. Hope this might clear things up for those of you who are reading docs and trying to make sense of it all!