"namely, to wit," mid-15c., see viz.
1530s, abbreviation of videlicet "that is to say, to wit, namely" (mid-15c.), from Latin videlicet, contraction of videre licet "it is permissible to see," from videre "to see" (see vision) + licet "it is allowed," third person singular present indicative of licere "be allowed" (see licence). The -z- is not a letter, but originally a twirl, representing the usual Medieval Latin shorthand symbol for the ending -et. "In reading aloud usually rendered by 'namely.' " [OED]
A visual language for specification and programming.
["viz: A Visual Language Based on Functions", C.M. Holt, 1990 IEEE Workshop on Visual Langs, Oct 1990, pp.221-226].
(1995-02-23)