e.g.

adv, noun — 2 senses

e.g.

adv

UK /ˌiːˈdʒiː/ · US /ˌiˈd͡ʒi/

Etymology The adverb is a terser form of ex. gr., both abbreviating Latin exemplī grātiā (“for the sake of an example”); e.g. was also used as an abbreviation in Latin. The noun is derived from the adverb.

1

An initialism used to introduce an illustrative example or short list of examples: for the sake of an example; for example.

  • Continents (e.g., Asia) contain many large bodies of water (e.g., lakes and inland seas) and many large flowing streams of water (i.e., rivers).
  • For though all is not to be done that is to be believed, yet all muſt be believed to be lavvful and duty vvhich muſt be done as ſuch: e. g. VVe cannot love God, vvorſhip him, hear and read his VVord, &c. as by Divine obedience, unleſs vve believe it to be our duty by a Divine command.1682, Richard Baxter, “Mr. [Henry] Dodwell’s Leviathan, or Absolute Destructive Prelacy, […]. Chapter III. The Consequence of Mr. Dodwell’s foresaid Doctrine.”, in An Answer to Mr. Dodwell and Dr. Sherlocke; Confuting an Universal Humane Church— […], London: […] Thomas Parkhurst, […], →OCLC, § 14, page 23:
4 more examples
  • Stated in technical linguistic terms, in this treatise pœcilonymy is avoided; e. g., instead of tænia hippocampi in one place, corpus fimbriatum in another, and fimbria in a third, the last is consistently employed and the others given as synonyms.1889 July 18, The Nation; quoted in “Dr. [Joseph] Leidy’s Anatomy”, in William Pepper [et al.], editors, The University Medical Magazine, volume II, number 1, Philadelphia, Pa.: A. L. Hummel, October 1889, →OCLC, page 45:
  • Might he become a gentleman farmer of field produce and live stock? Not impossibly, with 1 or 2 stripper cows, 1 pike of upland hay and requisite farming implements, e. g., an end-to-end churn, a turnip pulper etc.1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 17: Ithaca]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part III [Nostos], page 668:
  • The social status of the husband devolved on his wife, as implied in Pāṇini’s sūtra (Puṁyogād ākhyāyām, IV. 1. 48), i. e. a designation derived from her husband; e. g. mahāmātrī (ministrix), wife of a mahāmātra, a high government official, and gaṇakī, wife of a gaṇaka (accountant).1963, V[asudeva] S[harana] Agrawala, “Social Life”, in India as Known to Pāṇini: A Study of the Cultural Material in the Ashṭādhyāyī, 2nd edition, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: Prithvi Kumar, Prithivi Prakashan, →OCLC, section 3 (Marriage), page 88:
  • Cities were not infrequently named after the era name in which they were founded (e.g., Shaoxing 紹興 in Zhejiang, after the Shaoxing era, 1131–62).2000, Endymion Wilkinson, “Geography”, in Chinese History: A New Manual (Harvard–Yenching Institute Monograph Series; 52), revised edition, Cambridge, Mass.; London: Harvard University Asia Center for the Harvard–Yenching Institute, →ISBN, page 135:

e.g.

noun

Etymology The adverb is a terser form of ex. gr., both abbreviating Latin exemplī grātiā (“for the sake of an example”); e.g. was also used as an abbreviation in Latin. The noun is derived from the adverb.

  • Lemurs are an e.g. of a non-simian primate.

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.