ABBREVIATIONS IN APPARATUS CRITICI

This list is based on that of Prof. Karl Maurer of the University of Dallas
(http://www.udallas.edu/classics/resources/EditorsSigla.htm), with additions and modifications
by Dr Scott Scullion of Worcester College, Oxford.

Note that when a Latin adj. is neuter—e.g. alia or alterum—it normally agrees with an
understood (i.e. unexpressed) neuter verba or verbum. 

Note that the final consonant of abbreviated Latin nouns and adjectives is doubled
when the form is plural, e.g. cod. = codex but codd. = codices, cf. ms. / mss., cett., dett.,
edd. vett., ll., recc., rell., sq. / sqq., v. / vv., vett., vv.ll.

]   a single square bracket in the apparatus separates the reading printed in the text from the
variants and conjectures.  For examples, see under ‘e or ex’ and ‘emend.’.

:   a colon in the apparatus separates distinct variants and/or conjectures

~   The ‘swung dash’ is used by some editors (e.g. Barrett, Diggle) to mean ‘but not’, e.g.
‘nonne] non A (~Ac)’ = ‘Manuscript A has the incorrect non in the text, but this has been
corrected in that manuscript to nonne’.

A B C (etc.) = the signs (sigla) of the manuscripts cited by the editor, which are usually
described in the preface and identified in a list that precedes the text.  E.g. ‘d° A B : te C’ =
‘MSS A and B have d° and MS C has te’.  (‘ : ’ separates the readings). But sometimes a MS
(in older editions, any; in recent editions, a rarely used MS, too unimportant to have a siglum) is
represented not by a siglum but by an abbreviation of its name, e.g. Laur. = (codex)
Laur(entianus), or Vat. 226 = (codex) Vaticanus 226.

a b c (etc.) = generally either (a) less important MSS or (b) families of MSS.  (All MSS in a
‘family’ tend to have a considerable number of errors in common and so are assumed to be
descended from a common exemplar.) Bold type is sometimes used for sigla indicating families
of manuscripts. Use of sigla varies considerably, so the only safe procedure is to read carefully
the editor’s preface and list of sigla.

a b g (etc.) = (usually) lost ‘hyparchetypes’ (alias ‘proarchetypes’ or ‘proexemplars’), i.e.

conjectured lost MSS from which the best of our extant manuscripts seem to derive. So e.g.
perhaps A B D descend from a, F M from b, etc.  (But sometimes—esp. in older
editions—these Greek letters are also used for manuscript ‘families’, or every now and then
even for extant MSS. One must read the editor’s preface.)

A1 A2 A3 (etc.) = the main copyist’s hand in A, a 2nd hand in A, a 3rd hand in A.  Such a 2nd
or 3rd hand is usually that of a corrector, so A2 or A3 is sometimes called Acorr. 

A1 A2 A3   (etc.)  Subscript numbers usually mean not mere correctors but actual copyists when
there were more than one, e.g. one can discern that A1 copied everything till a certain page, then
A2  took over, and so on.

Af   Bfm (etc.)  Superscript letters sometimes (but not e.g. in Diggle’s Euripides: see next entry)
refer to scholia (i.e. ancient notes on the passage: see below, ‘S’), and often they are named
after the MSS in which they appear in their fullest form.  So e.g. ‘d° codd.: te Af’ might mean
that in this place all the MSS (including A) read d°, but in A, the f scholia (i.e. the ancient notes
 2

which F has in their fullest form) quote our passage and have te. (But superscript letters often
have quite other meanings – one must read the editor's list of sigla carefully.)

Ac, A1c, etc. Superscript letters are often used (as in Diggle’s edition of Euripides) to give
information about readings compendiously. Practice can vary, and one must consult the
prefatory material in the edition. Diggle’s symbols:
Ac A after correction by an unspecified hand
A1c A after correction by the first hand
A2 A after correction by the second hand
As A supra lineam (‘above the line’), by the first hand
Auv A ut videtur (‘as it seems’)
A? A’s reading is probable or possible but not certain
(A) A with some inessential variation
[A] A is illegible or unavailable
<A> A’s reading is based on inference
(~Ac) Ac agrees with the other manuscripts against A (i.e. ~ [the ‘swung dash’] = ‘but not’)
Am a reading in the margin of A
Ar a reading written by the rubricator of A
Agl a gloss in A
Agr a variant in A accompanied by gr(ãfetai) or a similar indication of a variant reading
Sa scholium in A
i a
S a reading implied by the scholium in A
l a
S lemma to the scholium in A
gr a
S a variant in the scholium in A accompanied by gr(ãfetai) or a similar indication of a
variant reading
A + A’s reading is found in other unspecified manuscripts
* an erased or obliterated letter

dative noun or ab + ablative noun abiud(icavit) or abiud(icaverunt) = lit. ‘has judged

(these verses/words) away from so-and-so’ that is ‘has judged that these words were not
written by so-and-so’, e.g. ‘Euripidi ( or ab Euripide) abiud. Page’ = (in effect) ‘Page denies
that these words are by Euripides’.

a.c. = ante corr. = ante correctionem, ‘before correction’; e.g. ‘d°] te A a.c.’ means: ‘all
copies (including A) have d°, but A has te before correction’.

ad  = ‘at’ or ‘on’. Normally used in citing ancient or modern commentary, e.g. ‘Porphyrio ad
Hor. c. 4.29’ = ‘Porphyrio's commentary on Horace, Ode 4.29, where Porphyrio quotes our
passage’.

add. = addidit, ‘added’ (tends to mean the same as ‘suppl.’, on which see below).

addub. = addubitavit, ‘has doubted’.

al. = alii, ‘other editors’ or = alibi, ‘elsewhere’.

alii alia = ‘some (conjecture) some (words); others, other (words)’, indicating the existence of
a variety of conjectures other than those mentioned by the editor.

alterum te = ‘the other te’ = ‘the second of the two instances of te in the verse/sentence’. 
(For an example, see under ‘del.’.  For its opposite see ‘prius’.)
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an / anne...? ‘perhaps’, introducing the editor’s tentative suggestion.

ante = ‘before’ (either in time or in space), e.g. ‘te ante corr.’, ‘te before correction’.

ap. = apud, ‘at’ (or French ‘chez’), effectively = ‘as quoted by’. Usually for the source of a
fragment quoted by another author, e.g. ‘Menander (fr. 627 Koerte) apud Stob. 4.40.14’ = the
fragment of Menander quoted in Stobaeus’ Anthology 4.40.14, which is numbered 627 in the
collection of the fragments of Menander by Koerte, or ‘Didymus ap. Sv ’ = Didymus as quoted
in the scholion on this passage in manuscript V.

a.r. = ante rasuram, ‘before erasure’.

c. or ca. = circa, ‘about, approximately’. 

cens(uit) / cens(uerunt),  'judged/considered'.

cett. = ceteri codices, ‘the other manuscripts’.

cf. = confer, ‘compare’ (imperative).  ‘Cf.’ is often followed by a reference to a passage in

which one will find a usage similar to that which the editor posits here.  (In older editions one
sometimes sees ‘cp.’ = ‘compare’)

ci. = cj. = conj. (q.v.)

cl. is sometimes used instead of coll. for collato.

cod(d). = codex (codices) = ms./mss. = ‘manuscript(s)’.  E.g. ‘te codd.’ = ‘all (or nearly all)
MSS have te’.  Cf. ‘em./emend.’.

coll. = collato loco (pl. collatis locis), lit. ‘with the passage so-and-so (to which reference is
given) compared’, i.e. ‘comparing passage so-and-so’ (for an example see under ‘def.’), or
else = collato codice (pl. collatis codicibus) = lit. ‘with that MS compared/collated’ (i.e. ‘after
collating that MS’).

conj. = conicit (coniecit, conieci), ‘conjectures’ (‘conjectured’, ‘I have conjectured’).  So e.g.

‘te conj. Wil.’, ‘Wilamowitz conjectured te’, or e.g. ‘te conieci’, ‘I have conjectured te’ (i.e.
‘te is my conjecture’).

cont(inuavit) / cont(inuaverunt) (or contin.),  ‘continued to’ e.g. ‘10-12 El. cont. Smith’,
‘Smith continued verses 10-12 to Electra’, that is Smith judged that there is not a change of
speaker at the beginning of verse 10, but that Electra, who has been speaking up to verse 9,
speaks verses 10-12 as well.

cont. = contulit, ‘compared’.

corr. = correctio, ‘correction’ or = corr(exit) / corr(exerunt), ‘corrected’, e.g. ‘d¢ ] te

codd., corr. Wil.’, ‘the mss. have te, which Wilamowitz corrected to d¢’.

damn(avit) / damn(averunt), ‘condemned’ = ‘judged corrupt’.

deest or pl. desunt, ‘(this word) is missing’ (‘[these words] are missing’).  E.g. ‘te deest L’,
‘te is missing in L’. (Compare ‘om.’.  ‘Om.’ is normally used when the modern editor feels
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certain that the omission was made in error, ‘deest’ when he feels less certain of this. Deest and
desunt are used especially for inscriptions and papyri; see e.g. under ‘ll.’.)  Deest sometimes
indicates that the evidence of a papyrus is unavailable for this letter/word/passage (because the
papyrus is damaged or its reading is for some other reason illegible).

def. = defendit, ‘defends’, or (perfect) ‘has defended’.  E.g. ‘te def. Hude coll. 7.21.3’, ‘Hude
defends te here, comparing its use at 7.21.3 with its use here’.  

del. = delevit, ‘deleted’, or delevi, ‘I have deleted’, e.g. ‘alterum te del. Wil.’, ‘Wilamowitz
deleted the second te’.

dett. = deteriores (codices), ‘inferior MSS’.

dist. = distinxit, ‘has punctuated’.  Often refers to a full stop, e.g. ‘post te dist. Hude’, ‘Hude
punctuates with a full stop after te’.

dub. = a form of dubius, -a, -um, ‘doubtful’, or dubitanter, ‘doubtfully’.

e or ex, ‘from’ or ‘on the basis of’.  E.g. ‘˜µvw Ãn] ıµo€vw Leutsch e schol.’, ‘The MSS
have ˜µvw Ãn.  Leutsch, unlike us, emends this to ıµo€vw on the basis of the scholium here’
(i.e. because the scholium has, or implies, that reading here), or e.g. ‘-brÒnta ] –br°nta conj.
Snell e Pae. 12.9’, ‘Snell conjectures that -brÒnta, given by the MSS, is a corruption of the
very rare form –br°nta, which occurs at Paean 12, line 9’.

edd. = editores, ‘editors’.  edd. vett. = editores veteres, ‘old (usually 15th- or 16th-century)
editors (or editions)’.  So e.g. ‘alterum te del. edd.vett.’, ‘earlier editors deleted the second
te’.  (These ‘edd. vett.’ are sometimes cited because they may have used good MSS now lost.)

ed. pr. = editio princeps, ‘first printed edition’ of the work.

em. = emend. = emendavit (emendat), ‘emended’ (‘emends’).  Used when all the MSS are
plainly wrong (see ‘codd.’), e.g. in his text an editor prints te and in his apparatus says: ‘te]
d° codd. (emend. Wil.)’, ‘the best MSS have d°; the te which I print is an emendation,
probably correct, by Wilamowitz’.

exp. = expunxit, ‘has deleted’.

fere,  ‘almost’ or ‘in general’.

fin. or ad fin. or sub fin., ‘at/towards the end’ (of the line, of the passage, of the page, etc.)

fort. or fors. = fortasse or forsan, ‘perhaps, conceivably’—i.e. the editor stresses that he is
guessing.

fr. (or sometimes F) = fragmentum, ‘fragment’ (frr. = fragmenta, ‘fragments’).

gl. = glossa, ‘gloss’.

gr. or gr. = grãfetai (pl. grãfontai), (lit.) ‘is written’ (‘are written’), term for variant
readings which are labelled as such in the MS itself, usually by this same abbreviation.  So e.g.
‘d°] te gr. A2 ’ means that next to d°, the second hand in A (e.g. a corrector) has written ‘gr.
 5

te’ (or ‘te grãfetai’), meaning that he has seen that variant reading in another MS.  (When
the variant is not thus labelled in the MS itself, the apparatus has not  ‘gr.’ but  ‘v.l.’, for
which see below.)  Often the nature of these additions is discussed in the modern editor’s
preface.

h.v. = hunc versum, ‘this verse’.

iam,  ‘already’, usually with the name of a scholar whose emendation is very nearly the same
as, or has the same essential virtues as, but was later somewhat improved (e.g. orthographically)
by, the emendation of a later scholar (cf. praeeunte below)

i.m. = in margine (see ‘marg.’)

indic(avit)  indic(averunt), ‘indicated’, especially of a lacuna, e.g ‘post h. v. lac. indic.

Smith’, ‘Smith indicated a lacuna after this verse’.

inf. = infra, ‘below’ or = inferior, ‘inferior, lower, later’.

init. or ad init. = initium or ad initium, ‘near the beginning’ (of the line, of the passage, of the
page, etc.)

ins. = inseruit, ‘inserted’.

inscr. = inscriptio, ‘inscription’, or = inscriptum (or -a), ‘written into’ / ‘inscribed’.

interl. = inter lineas, ‘this word is interlinear’, i.e. written between the lines.

i.r. = in rasura (see ‘ras.’).

i.t. = in textu, ‘in the text’, in the text itself.

lac. = lacuna, ‘lacuna’, i.e. a gap in the transmitted text, that is a place where the text as
transmitted runs on continuously but the editor or emendator considers that a passage (e.g. a
line or more of verse) which the author wrote has been lost in the process of transmission.
Editors may simply indicate the existence of a suspected lacuna or may attempt to restore the
missing passage, generally exempli gratia, by conjecture.

lect. = lectio, ‘reading’, i.e. (usually) the word(s) that a MS has in this place.

lit. or in lit. = in litura, ‘on top of an erasure’ or ‘a blot’ (see ‘ras.’).

ll. = litt. = litterae, ‘letters’.  E.g. ‘desunt ca. 15 ll.’, ‘about 15 letters are missing’.

loc. = locus or loco or locum, ‘passage’ (in a work), e.g. ad locum, ‘on the (specified) passage’
or loc. coll., (lit.) ‘with the (specified) passage compared’ (see ‘coll.’).

loc. cit. = loco citato, ‘in the passage cited’.

malim = ‘I would prefer’, expressing the editor’s at least somewhat tentative preference.

m. = manus, ‘hand’, i.e. copyist.

marg. or mg. = margen, ‘margin’.  E.g. ‘te in mg.’, ‘te (is written) in the margin’.
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m.r. = manus recentior, ‘a more recent hand = copyist’.

ms(s) = manuscript(s) (no difference between this and ‘codd.’).

mut. = mutavit, ‘has changed’.

nonnulli = nonnulli editores, ‘some editors’.

nota,  ‘indication of speaker’, in dramatic texts, e.g. ‘Chor. trib. A: nulla nota B’ = ‘manuscript
A marks this line as the Chorus's but manuscript B does not contain an indication of speaker’.

numeri, ‘meter’.

olim, ‘once’, of a suggestion later withdrawn, or regarded as superceded, by its author.

om. = omittit or omisit, ‘omits’ or ‘omitted’.  E.g. ‘te om. A’ = ‘te is missing in A’ (lit. ‘A
omits te’—but probably not deliberately). 

P. (PP.) = P (pl. PP)  = Pap. (pl. Papp.)  = papyrus.  E.g. ‘te P. Berol.’, ‘the Berlin papyrus
has te here’, or e.g. ‘te P.Oxy. 1356’ = Oxyrhynchus papyrus 1356 has te,  or ‘te Pcorr’,
‘in the papyrus te was written by the corrector’.  (Good libraries have editions of all the papyri,
and if a reading is important it is worthwhile to look these up.  A papyrus is an ancient copy of
the text, usually 3rd c. B.C. to 3rd c. A.D., and its modern edition usually has a commentary, in
which the editor may give you his impression of what that copy is worth generally and perhaps
also offer his own opinion about the reading in question.)

P1 , P2 , P3 , etc. Compendious sigla for papyri, corresponding to a list preceding the text in
which the individual papyri are identified and dated.

p.c. = post correctionem, ‘after correction’ (see ‘a.c.’).

pler. = plerique, ‘very many or most’ (editors or MSS).

plur. = plures, ‘most’ (editors or MSS).

possis, ‘you could’, that is ‘you could consider’ / ‘one might suggest’ / ‘would be possible’,
of a tentative conjecture.

post, ‘after’.

pot. qu. = potius quam, ‘(is) more likely than’, ‘rather than’, e.g. (re a papyrus reading) ‘n[
pot. qu. l[’ = ‘the letter before the text breaks off is more probably a nu than a lambda’. 

p.r. = post rasuram, ‘after an erasure’.

praeeunte / praemonente, so-and-so ‘leading the way / preceding’, or ‘with prior warning /
guidance from’ so-and-so, indicating that one scholar’s textual suggestion relied importantly on
some prior observation, suggestion, warning, or objection by another scholar.

prius (or prior), ‘the earlier’ (of the two); e.g. ‘prius te’, ‘the first te’ (for its opposite, see
‘alterum’).
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pro, ‘instead of’, ‘in place of’, e.g. ‘d° pro te A’, ‘A has d° instead of te’.

prob. = (ad)probavit, ‘has agreed’, ‘has approved’ (or = the present participle probante,
‘agreeing’), e.g. ‘te coni. Hude prob. Wil.’, ‘Hude conjectured te, Wilamowitz agreed’ (or
abl. ‘with Wil. agreeing’).

quo servato... , ‘retaining which, ...’, introducing a reading to be adopted or a suggestion to be

considered elsewhere in the passage if one retains the specified reading in the present passage.

ras. = in ras. = in rasura, ‘on (or ‘on top of’, ‘over’) an erasure’, e.g. ‘te in ras. A’, ‘A has
te (written) over an erasure’.

recc. = recentiores, lit. ‘later (MSS)’.  For Latin MSS this usually means 15th- or 16th-century
Italian, for Greek it means late Byzantine.  The recc. are usually derivative (all copied from
copies of the capital MSS), yet sometimes they alone preserve some ancient readings, which
they got by collation (i.e. they took readings from good ancient MSS now lost).

recte, ‘rightly’.  Usually used when the editor is citing someone else’s suggestion, which he
considers correct.

rell., reliqui, ‘the other’ (MSS), ‘the remaining’ (MSS).

s. = saec. = saeculum or saeculi or saeculo, ‘century’.

sc. = scil. = scilicet, ‘no doubt, certainly’.

schol. (pl. scholl.) = scholium (scholia), or (sometimes) ‘scholiast’.  (See below under S). 

scripsi, ‘I have written’, e.g. ‘te scripsi: d° codd.’, ‘te is my emendation; the MSS have d°’.

secl. = seclusit, ‘has bracketed as corrupt’. (This only corresponds to square brackets around
the relevant passage when the editor of the text accepts the seclusion; he may merely report with
secl. a seclusion suggested by another scholar which he does not himself accept.)

sim. = similia, ‘similar’ (words); see ‘vel sim.’.

s.l. = supra lineam, ‘above the line’ (in effect, means the same as ‘s.s.’).

sq. = sequens (sqq. = pl. sequentia), ‘following’, e.g. ‘10 sq.’, ‘verses 10 and 11’; ‘10 sqq.’,
‘verse 10 and two or more verses following it’.

s.s. = sscr. = suprascr. = suprascriptum (pl. suprascripta), ‘this word (or these words)
written above the line’.

stat(uit) stat(uerunt), ‘fixed / set up / ordained’, usually of a lacuna, cf. indic. above.

subscr. = subscriptum (pl. subscripta), ‘this word (or these words) written below the line’.

sup. = supra, ‘above’, or superior.

suppl. = supplevit (or supplet), ‘filled out with’ or ‘completed with’, in effect = ‘supplied’. 
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E.g. in my text I print in angular brackets a word that the MSS omitted, e.g. ‘<te>’, and my
apparatus says ‘te  suppl. Wil.’, ‘Wilamowitz supplied te’.

suprascr., see ‘s.s.’.

susp(icatus est), ‘suspected’ or ‘doubted’ the authenticity of a reading or passage.

s.v. = sub voce, ‘under the word or heading’, e.g ‘te Suda s.v. ÉArx°laow’, i.e. the Suda (a
tenth-century Byzantine encyclopedia) has te where it quotes this passage in its entry
‘Archelaos’.

S (pl. SS) = scholium (pl. scholia), i.e. Hellenistic or Byzantine note(s) on this passage. 
Many of these notes originated in ancient commentaries, which were published separately from
the text and resembled modern commentaries. In the early middle ages, these ceased to be
copied (so that hardly any survive, except in a few papyrus fragments), but many remarks taken
from them were written in the margins of the texts themselves. Hence modern editors always
scrutinize the scholia, because some quote or reflect the text as it was in ancient times, perhaps
in a purer state. 

Sabc = the scholion/scholia on this passage in manuscripts A, B, C.

tent. = tentavit, (lit.) ‘attempted, tried’.  ‘tent.’ marks a conjecture that could be right, but is
very uncertain.

trai(ecit) trai(ecerunt), ‘transferred’ a passage to another, specified location in the text.

transp. & transt. = transposuit & transtulit, ‘transposed’ (i.e. changed the word order or line
order).

trib(uit) trib(uerunt), ‘attributed / ascribed / assigned’ to an author, interpolator vel sim., or

to a character in a drama.

tum, ‘then’, usually introducing a reading that should be adopted (or considered) as a
consequence of the adoption of a reading mentioned previously.

v. (pl. vv.) = versus, ‘verse(s)’. 

vel, ‘or’.

vel sim. = vel simile, pl. uel similia (or -es), ‘or some similar word(s)’; ‘or some similar
conjecture(s)’ (usually applied to conjectures that are dubious or exempli gratia).

vett. = veteres (codices | editores | editiones), ‘old (MSS | editors | editions)’.  (See ‘edd.’.)

v. or vd. = vide, ‘see’ (imperative), indicating a passage or a scholarly discussion that should be
consulted or compared.

vid. = videtur, ‘seems’, usually in the form ‘ut vid.’, ‘as it seems, apparently’.

v.l. (pl. vv. ll.) = varia lectio (variae lectiones), ‘variant reading(s)’ in the MSS.  Usually they
are rather unimpressive variants that look like mere conjectures, perhaps ancient, perhaps
mediaeval or renaissance.  (There is a difference between this and ‘gr.’ on which see ‘gr.’).
 9

vit. = vita, ‘life’, referring to an ancient biography; e.g. ‘vit. Thuc. 3’ referring to the third
section of the ancient life of Thucydides.

vox (pl. voces), ‘word(s)’.  (In classical Latin, this is the normal word for ‘word’.)

vulg. = vulgo, ‘commonly’.  Often refers to the corrupt and much contaminated ‘vulgate’ text
of the renaissance.

X sometimes = S.

SIGNS IN THE TEXT ITSELF

†   An obelus (pl. obeli) means that the word(s) is or are plainly corrrupt, but the editor cannot
see how to emend them. If only one word is corrupt there is only one obelus, which precedes
the word; if two or more words are corrupt, two obeli enclose them.  (Such at least is the
rule—but that rule is often broken, especially in older editions, which sometimes ‘dagger’
several words using only one obelus.)  To ‘dagger’ words in this way is to ‘obelize’ them.

[...]  Square brackets, or in recent editions wavy brackets or ‘braces’—{...}—enclose words

etc. that the editor thinks should be deleted (see ‘del.’).

<...> Angular or ‘elbow’ brackets enclose words etc. that are not in the manuscripts but that the
editor thinks should be added (see ‘suppl.’).

[...]    Square brackets in a papyrus text, or in an inscription, enclose places where words
have been lost through physical damage.  If this happens in mid-line, editors use ‘[...]’.  If only
the end of the line is missing, they use a single bracket ‘[...’.   If the line’s beginning is
missing, they use ‘...]’.  Within the brackets, each dot sometimes represents one missing letter.

[[...]] Double brackets enclose letters or words that were deleted by the copyist himself.

(...) Round brackets are sometimes used to supplement words abbreviated by the original
copyist of a papyrus or inscription, e.g. in an inscription: ‘trib(unus) mil(itum) leg(ionis) III’.

A dot under a letter (used for papyrus texts, inscriptions) means that  an ‘a’, for example,
seems to be an ‘a’, but the traces are very faint and it could conceivably be some other letter.