What does vide mean?
Vide is a learned English use of a Latin word meaning “see” or “look.” It comes from the imperative of the Latin verb videre, “to see,” and survives chiefly in legal, historical, scholarly, and reference writing rather than in ordinary conversation. A writer may use vide supra to direct readers to a discussion appearing above, or vide infra to indicate that the relevant material is below. The expression is concise but formal, so most modern writers use “see above,” “see below,” or the abbreviation “cf.” instead. Vide is nevertheless useful because it clearly signals a cross-reference without requiring a full sentence and preserves a convention established in Latin scholarship. It should not be confused with video, the modern English noun for recorded moving images. Although vide is rare outside specialized writing, recognizing it helps readers understand legal citations, academic notes, dictionaries, and reference works in which Latin terminology remains common.
verb (imperative)The imperative of the Latin verb videre, meaning “see” or “look”; used in English chiefly in cross-references such as vide supra (“see above”) and vide infra (“see below”).
- A learned English use of the Latin imperative vide, meaning “see,” especially when directing the reader to another passage, source, argument, or section.
"For the earlier discussion of the treaty, vide supra."
"For the earlier discussion of the treaty, vide supra."
"Vide infra for the full list of dates."
A four-letter Latin command meaning “see,” vide has survived as the formal signpost used by lawyers and scholars to point readers elsewhere.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does vide come from?
Vide is the imperative singular of the Latin verb videre, “to see,” and literally means “see!” or “look!” Latin-derived writers adopted it as a concise marker for cross-references. English later used the word in legal and scholarly prose, particularly in the established expressions vide supra and vide infra. It belongs to the Latin root vid-, seen in cognates such as video, visible, vision, and evidence.
How vide is actually used
This is a formal, learned borrowing used almost exclusively for cross-reference. In ordinary modern English, “see” and “cf.” are more natural.
Easily confused with vide
Vide is the Latin imperative meaning “see,” whereas video is an English noun referring to recorded moving images.