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cf. is an abbreviation for the Latin word confer, meaning "compare" or "consult." It is mainly used in common and statute law contexts, as well as in academic writing. It is used in binomial nomenclature by placing before the species name to indicate that the species is not confirmed.

It is sometimes used (primarily in dictionaries) to offer insight into the preceding word's etymology - that is, to suggest how one term obtained its particular naming convention (perhaps from another phrase).

For example, the phrase "Big Whack (cf. Big Bang)" suggests to the reader that the usage of the simplified moniker Big Whack, used in lieu of the more formal term giant impact theory, stems from an earlier, similar use of the colloquial phrase Big Bang to describe the more technically complete definition "the hypothesized point in time when the observed expansion of the universe began."

Bibliography | Literature | Scientific nomenclature

Confer | Cf.