cf.

See also: Appendix:Variations of "cf"

Translingual

Etymology

From Latin cf., abbreviation of cōnfer (“compare”).

Symbol

cf.

1. (taxonomy) Preceding an uncertain taxonomic rank, in order to designate a specimen that is hard to identify because of practical difficulties, such as poor preservation.
   • 2001, Spencer G. Lucas, “Cretaceous”, in Chinese Fossil Vertebrates‎^[1] (in English), New York: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 169:

     P. neimongoliensis Russell & Zhao is from the Ejinhoro Formation of Nei Monggol, where it co-occurs with Wuerhosaurus and cf. Chiayusaurus (Russell and Zhao 1996).

   • 2021 March 8, Annie Roth, “Meet the Sea Slugs That Chop Off Their Own Heads”, in The New York Times‎^[2] (in English), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 8 March 2021:

     The head of Elysia cf. marginata just after autotomy.

   • 2022 June 1, Susan Cosier, “Marine Microbe Lures Prey into Custom Slime Traps”, in Scientific American‎^[3] (in English), New York, N.Y.: Springer Nature America, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 18 May 2022:

     Now new research published in Nature Communications suggests that one such species, Prorocentrum cf. balticum, displays a bizarre and clever hunting technique—one that significantly contributes to the crucial cycling of carbon through land, atmosphere and oceans.

Further reading

• cf. § Biological use on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

English

Alternative forms

• cf

Etymology

From Latin cf., abbreviation of cōnfer (“compare”), imperative of cōnferō (“to compare”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /kəmˈpɛɚ ˌwɪθ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /siːˈɛf/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛf

Verb

cf. (imperative)

1. Compare; compare to; compare with.
   • 2005 April 11, Philip Howard, “Modern Manners”, in The Times‎^[4], London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 April 2026:

     “Connexion” is the etymological (ie, “correct”) spelling. That is to say, our word is derived from an actual Latin noun, cf. deflexion, inflexion, and reflexion. […] And it might make life easier to abolish the letter “x”. But why should we cut off the fascinating roots of our words? I should carry on preferring “connexion”.

2. (nonstandard) See; see also.

Related terms

• collate
• confer

Translations

compare — see also cfr.

• Bulgarian: сравни (bg) (sravni)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 參見 / 参见 (zh) (cānjiàn)

• Czech: srov. (cs)
• Danish: jf. (da)
• Dutch: cf. (nl) or vgl. (nl) or verg.
• Esperanto: kp.
• Faroese: sbr., smbr.
• Finnish: vrt. (fi)
• French: cf. (fr)
• German: vgl. (de), cf. (de), vergl. (de)
• Greek: πβ. (el) (pv.), πρβ. (el) (prv.)
• Hebrew: השו׳
• Hungarian: vö. (hu)
• Icelandic: sbr. (is)
• Ido: kp.
• Italian: cfr. (it)
• Japanese: 参照（せよ） (sanshō(seyo)), 比較（せよ） (hikaku(seyo))
• Latin: cf.
• Latvian: sal.
• Lithuanian: plg.
• Norwegian: jf. (no)
• Pannonian Rusyn: оп. (op.)
• Polish: por. (pl)
• Portuguese: cf. (pt), cp.
• Romanian: cf.
• Russian: ср. (ru) (sr.)
• Spanish: cf.
• Swedish: jmf., jfr (sv), jfr. (sv)
• Welsh: cf.

Anagrams

• F.C., FC, Fc

Latin

Etymology

Abbreviation of cōnfer, imperative of cōnferō, from con- (“together”) and ferō (“(I) bring”).

Verb

cf.

1. abbreviation of cōnfer (“compare”)

Portuguese

Verb

cf.

1. cf

Further reading

• “cf.”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Spanish

Phrase

cf.

1. abbreviation of cónfer

Verb

cf.

1. abbreviation of confróntese

Further reading

• “confer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025
• cónfer | Diccionario de la lengua española (2001) | RAE - ASALE
• «ib.»/«ibid.», «cf.»/«cfr.» | FundéuRAEFundéuRAE

Welsh

Verb

cf.

1. cf.; abbreviation of cymharer, impersonal imperative of cymharu (“to compare”)