abbreviation

et al.

et AL

Et al. (abbreviation) means And others: used after the first author's name in citations to stand in for the remaining authors of a work. Example: “The findings were replicated by Nakamura et al. (2019).”

abbreviation

And others: used after the first author's name in citations to stand in for the remaining authors of a work.

"The findings were replicated by Nakamura et al. (2019)."

"See Patel et al. for the full methodology."

informal And the rest of them: used informally after a name to mean the group associated with that person.

"The invitation went out to Marcus et al."

How to Use Et al.

Learner’s notes

In plain EnglishA short way of writing 'and the other authors' in a reference.

When to use it

Academic and formal; italicisation is not required in most modern styles.

Memory tip

Treat 'X et al.' as plural in British style and check your journal's rules; keep the full stop after 'al'.

Trace the full origin ↓

Easily confused with

etc. → et seq. i.e. → e.g. →

Common pairings

Smith et al. (2020) as reported by ... et al. et al., p. 44

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Etymology

A shortening of Latin et alii ('and others', masculine), et aliae (feminine) or et alia (neuter).

Origin: Latin

Synonyms

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and others and colleagues and co-authors

Rhymes for et al.

metal fetal petal Sheetal skeletal parietal societal

See all rhymes for et al. →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between 'et al.' and 'etc.'?

'Et al.' stands for 'and others' and is used for people, chiefly co-authors. 'Etc.' stands for 'and the rest' and is used for things. Writing 'Smith etc.' or 'apples et al.' reverses them wrongly.

Where does the full stop go in 'et al.'?

After 'al' only. 'Et' is a complete Latin word, so it takes no point, while 'al.' is an abbreviation of 'alii' and does. 'Et. al.' and 'et al' without the stop are both incorrect in formal citation.

When should you use 'et al.' in a citation?

It depends on the style. APA uses it for works with three or more authors from the first citation onward; MLA uses it for three or more; many science journals use it for more than three. Check the style guide, and always name the first author before it.