sub verbo (s.v.)
'Under the word' — the way to cite an alphabetically organised reference work.
s.v. abbreviates sub verbo, 'under the word' (plural s.vv., sub verbis). It is used to cite dictionaries, encyclopaedias, and other alphabetically arranged works by headword rather than by page: 'OED, s.v. "quotation"'.
The convention exists because alphabetical works are stable by entry and unstable by page. Editions repaginate; the headword does not move. In online reference works, where pagination does not exist at all, s.v. is now the only workable locator.
Chicago style asks for the headword in quotation marks after s.v., and for an access date when citing a continuously revised online dictionary, since entries are updated between visits.
Common mistake: giving a page number instead of the headword for a dictionary entry. It will not survive the next edition, and it tells a reader searching a database nothing.
“Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "aphorism (n.)", accessed March 2025.”
Keep reading the glossary
A reference work listing every occurrence of every significant word in a text, with its context and location.
The date you actually read an online source, recorded because online sources change.
A Latin citation abbreviation for confer, 'compare' — used to point the reader to a related passage.
The list of works cited or consulted, printed at the end of a book, chapter, or article.