The term 'et al.' is an abbreviation of the Latin phrase "et alia," which means "and others." It is commonly used in academic writing and citations to indicate that there are additional authors or contributors involved in a work beyond those named. For example, when a book or research paper has multiple authors, instead of listing all their names, you can write the first author's name followed by 'et al.' to signify that there are more authors involved.
The phrase 'et al.' comes from Medieval Latin "et alius," meaning "and another." Over time, it was shortened to simply 'et al.' to streamline citations and references in scholarly work.