Infra
A cross-reference meaning 'below' — used to point forward to a source or passage discussed later in the same document.
'Infra' is Latin for 'below' and functions as the forward-looking mirror of 'supra'. In legal and academic writing it directs the reader to material that will be treated later in the same document: 'see infra Part III' or 'discussed infra at notes 45–48'.
Infra cross-references are useful in long, structured documents where an argument depends on something the writer has not yet reached. Rather than pause to develop a subsidiary point, the writer flags it, promises to return, and lets the main argument continue. Done well, infra references reassure the reader that an apparent gap will be filled.
Style guides caution against overuse. A document densely peppered with infras and supras can feel like a maze, forcing the reader to jump around instead of following a line of argument. The best practice is to reserve them for genuine cross-links, and to make sure every 'see infra' has a corresponding target the reader can actually find.
Common mistake: using infra to defer a point that never actually gets addressed. A promise made in a footnote must be kept in the text. An unfulfilled infra is worse than none — it advertises that the writer knows a hole exists.
“The scope of that exception is discussed infra, Part IV.B.”
Keep reading the glossary
A cross-reference meaning 'above' — used to point back to a source or passage cited earlier in the same document.
A citation shorthand meaning 'in the same source as the previous note'.
A citation shorthand meaning 'in the work already cited'.
A short-form citation meaning 'the same source as the one immediately preceding' — the legal cousin of 'ibid.'