48 The worst and most disheartening point.is this namely,-that the course of modern thought and modern life is set against these improvements.ġ934 R.

349 A third quality of sounds, namely, cadence or accent.ġ875 A. 99 It would then have been understood as it is at present, namely, that the gentlemen would rank in the order they are named.ġ855 A. Introducing more detailed information or a particular example: that is to say, to be specific to wit.ġ798 G. The list can be viewed as being in apposition to an earlier reference and this makes for the good use of a comma.ģ.a. In broad terms, whatever follows it is that which is then named/described/titled, etc. The OED examples since the late 18th century are consistent: “namely” is followed by a comma. Nevertheless, I can't claim that my preference is anything more than a preference.

The link you provide to Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary is useful because it describes some of the numerous ways that people deal with 'namely,' including these:īut that source doesn't account for other possibilities, such as these:Īs the contrasting comments and responses to your question indicate, people have very different preferences for punctuating 'namely.' I favor the -namely, option, which I like because it establishes a clean break from the wording responsible for the deficiency in identification that the words following 'namely' are dedicated to supplying.

I don't think that any settled and widely accepted rule for handling 'namely' exists, which makes the challenge to 'prove your claims by including references' rather difficult.

Namely in text