Definition
Et seq. is an abbreviation of the Latin et sequentia (or et sequentes), meaning "and the following." It is used in legal writing and citation practice to indicate that a reference extends beyond the specific page, section, or provision cited to include the material that follows it. When a statute, treatise, or code section is cited as "§ 101 et seq.," the reference encompasses Section 101 and all subsequent sections that are part of the same statutory scheme, chapter, or subdivision. Similarly, "p. 45 et seq." means page 45 and the pages that follow in the relevant passage.
The abbreviation signals a range without specifying exactly where that range ends. It is the reader's task — or the writer's implicit understanding — to determine how far "the following" extends based on context, such as the end of a statutory subchapter or the conclusion of a treatise chapter.
Common Confusion
Et seq. is sometimes used interchangeably with et seqq. (et sequentes, plural), though the distinction is now largely obsolete in American legal practice. More practically, researchers occasionally confuse et seq. with et al. ("and others," used for multiple parties or authors). The two abbreviations serve entirely different functions: et seq. extends a numbered reference forward through a text; et al. abbreviates a list of named persons.
Why It Matters in Research
The principal research trap with et seq. is its deliberate vagueness. A statutory citation reading "15 U.S.C. § 1 et seq." does not tell you where the relevant provisions end. Researchers relying solely on such a citation must independently identify the scope of the statutory scheme — which may span dozens or hundreds of sections — rather than assuming a defined stopping point has been communicated.
In older legal documents, briefs, and treatises, et seq. was used far more broadly than it is today. Modern citation conventions, including the Bluebook, now generally disfavor et seq. for statute citations precisely because of the ambiguity, preferring specific section-to-section ranges (e.g., §§ 101–115) wherever the terminal section is known. Researchers working with pre-1970s legal materials should expect to encounter et seq. frequently in contexts where modern practice would require explicit terminal citations.
In case law research, courts have occasionally been called upon to determine what a particular et seq. citation was meant to include — especially in contract language, pleadings, or regulatory cross-references. The ambiguity that makes et seq. convenient in passing citation can become a genuine interpretive problem when the scope of a statutory reference is disputed.
Jurisdictional variation is minimal for the abbreviation itself, but state codes vary in whether their official codifications use et seq. in their own internal cross-references. Some state statutes use et seq. loosely in definitional or applicability provisions, which can affect how broadly a statute is read to reach.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both Black's editions offer matching, minimal entries: et seq. abbreviates et sequentia, meaning "and the following," illustrated by a page-number example. The two editions are substantively identical on this point, reflecting the term's stable and narrow function. Neither edition addresses citation conventions, the modern preference for explicit ranges, or the ambiguity problem the abbreviation creates in practice — gaps that a researcher working with historical materials should supply from knowledge of evolving citation standards.