The short answer
“Vide” is Latin for “see” — used in Indian government and legal writing to cross-reference an earlier document, as in “vide letter no. 456 dated 12.03.2024.” It is a real, dictionary-recognized word, but outside India it survives only in old academic footnotes. Indian offices kept it as everyday cross-reference shorthand long after the rest of the English-speaking world dropped it.
Old-Fashioned vs. Modern
Old-Fashioned
Vide letter no. 456 dated 12.03.2024, the Ministry has approved the proposal.
Modern English
As stated in letter no. 456 dated 12.03.2024, the Ministry has approved the proposal.
Old-Fashioned
The applicant was informed vide order dated 5th June 2023.
Modern English
The applicant was informed in the order dated 5th June 2023.
Old-Fashioned
Please refer vide our letter dated 10.01.2024.
Modern English
Please refer to our letter dated 10.01.2024.
Old-Fashioned
Sanction was accorded vide Government Order No. 789.
Modern English
Sanction was accorded by Government Order No. 789.
Why Do People Say It?
“Vide” belongs to the same family as “kindly intimate” and “please find the same” — formal vocabulary from British colonial-era legal and administrative drafting, where Latin cross-reference terms like “vide,” “ibid,” and “supra” were standard scholarly and legal convention. Britain and most English-speaking countries dropped this convention from everyday official writing decades ago; Indian government offices, courts, and public-sector organisations kept it as routine practice.
Open almost any Indian government circular, RTI reply, or court order today and “vide” still appears exactly where modern English would simply say “in” or “as per” — this is not a mistake, it is a genuinely surviving fossil of the same formal legal register.
Exam tip
In IELTS Writing and modern professional correspondence, replace “vide” with “referring to,” “as per,” “in,” or “by” depending on the sentence. Examiners mark it as outdated, non-standard register — not as a grammar error, but as a fluency and naturalness deduction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 'vide' grammatically wrong?+
No — 'vide' is a real Latin loanword meaning 'see', documented in English dictionaries. It is grammatically valid, but outside India it survives only in old academic footnotes like 'vide supra'. Indian government and legal writing kept it as everyday cross-reference shorthand, which is why it feels unusual to readers unfamiliar with that register.
Why do Indian offices say 'vide letter no. X' instead of 'as per letter no. X'?+
It is a holdover from British colonial-era legal and administrative drafting, where Latin cross-reference terms such as 'vide', 'ibid', and 'supra' were standard scholarly and legal convention. Britain and most of the English-speaking world dropped this convention from everyday official writing decades ago, but Indian government offices, courts, and public-sector organisations kept it as routine practice, so it still appears constantly in circulars, RTI replies, and court orders.
What should I write instead of 'vide' in modern English?+
Use 'referring to', 'as per', 'in', or 'by' depending on the sentence — for example, 'as stated in letter no. X' or 'by order dated Y'. These are standard in modern professional and legal English internationally, including IELTS Writing.
Read Next
Why Is 'Please Find the Same' Old-Fashioned?
The sibling legal-English pronoun still alive in Indian office correspondence
Why Is 'Kindly Intimate' Old-Fashioned?
The sibling colonial-office verb — 'inform' dressed up in formal Raj-era English
Why Is 'Do the Needful' Wrong?
Another colonial-era Indian office-English phrase
IELTS Writing Grammar Guide
Band 7+ rules for formal register and word choice