| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|
| A | associate of |
| AA | Alcoholics Anonymous |
| AA(A) | anti-aircraft (artillery) |
| AB | able-bodied seaman |
| abbr(ev). | abbreviation |
| ABM | antiballistic missile |
| abr. | abridged |
| ABS | antilock braking system |
| AC | air-conditioning; aircraftman; ante Christum (before Christ) |
| ac | alternating current |
| a/c | account |
| ACAD | auto computer-aided design |
| ACTH | adrenocorticotrophic hormone |
| ad. lib. | ad libitum (at pleasure) |
| A.D. | anno Domini (in the year of our Lord) |
| A-D | analog-to-digital |
| ADC | aide-de-camp |
| ADH | antidiuretic hormone |
| Adj. | adjutant |
| adj. | adjective |
| Adm. | admiral; admission |
| ADP | adenosine diphosphate |
| adv. | adverb |
| AFV | armored fighting vehicle |
| AGM | air-to-ground missile; annual general meeting |
| AGR | advanced gas-cooled reactor |
| AH | anno Hegirae (in the year of the Hegira) |
| AI | artificial intelligence |
| AID | artificial insemination by donor |
| AIDS | acquired immuno deficiency syndrome |
| AIH | artificial insemination by husband |
| AK | Alaska |
| aka | also known as |
| AL | Alabama |
| ALCM | air-launched cruise missile |
| ALGOL | algorithmic language |
| alt. | altitude |
| AM | amplitude modulation; anno mundi (in the year of the world) |
| A.M. | ante meridiem (before noon) |
| amp | ampere; amplifier |
| AMU | atomic mass unit |
| anon. | anonymous |
| AOB | any other business |
| approx. | approximately |
| APR | annual percentage rate |
| Apr. | April |
| AR | Arkansas; autonomous republic |
| ASA | American Standards Association |
| asap | as soon as possible |
| ASEAN | Association of South East Asian Nations |
| ASM | air-to-surface missile |
| AST | Atlantic Standard Time |
| AU | astronomical unit |
| AUC | ab urbe condita (in the year from the foundation of Rome); anno urbis conditae (in the year of the founding of the city) |
| Aug. | August |
| AV | audiovisual; Authorized Version (Bible) |
| Ave. | avenue |
| AWACS | Airborne Warning and Control System |
| AWOL | absent without leave |
| AZ | Arizona |
| b. | born |
| BBC | British Broadcasting Corporation |
| B.C. | before Christ |
| B.C. | British Columbia |
| B.C.E. | before common era |
| BCG | bacille (bacillus) Calmette Guérin |
| Blvd. | boulevard |
| BP | blood pressure |
| Bp | bishop |
| bps | bits per second |
| BSE | bovine spongiform encephalopathy |
| BVM | Blessed Virgin Mary (Beata Virgo Maria) |
| C | Celsius; centigrade; century |
| c. | circa (about) |
| CA | California |
| ca. | circa (about) |
| CAD | computer-aided design |
| cap. | capital |
| Capt. | captain |
| CAT | computerized axial tomography |
| CB | citizens' band |
| CBS | Columbia Broadcasting System |
| CCTV | closed-circuit television |
| CD | compact disc; corps diplomatique |
| Cdr. | commander |
| Cdre. | commodore |
| CD-ROM | compact disc read-only memory |
| C.E. | common era; Christian era |
| cert. | certified |
| CET | Central European Time |
| cf. | confer (compare) |
| CFC | chlorofluorocarbon |
| CFS | chronic fatigue syndrome |
| CGS | centimeter-gram-second |
| CIA | Central Intelligence Agency |
| cif | cost, insurance, and freight |
| C-in-C | commander-in-chief |
| cm | centimeter |
| CNN | Cable News Network |
| CO | Colorado; commanding officer |
| c/o | care of |
| COBOL | Common Business Oriented Language |
| COD | cash on delivery |
| COED | computer-operated electronic display |
| Col. | colonel |
| Comdr. | Commander |
| COMECON | Council for Mutual Economic Assistance |
| conj. | conjunction |
| cons. | consecrated |
| Corp. | corporation |
| Cpl. | corporal |
| CPR | cardiopulmonary resuscitation |
| CPS | characters per second |
| CPU | central processing unit |
| CST | Central Standard Time |
| CT | Connecticut |
| CV | curriculum vitae |
| CVS | chorionic villus sampling |
| d. | died |
| D.A. | District Attorney |
| D&C | dilation and curettage |
| DBS | direct broadcasting from satellite |
| D.C. | District of Columbia |
| dc | direct current |
| DDT | dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane |
| DE | Delaware |
| Dec. | December |
| del. | delineavit (he/she drew it) |
| Dem. | Democrat |
| dept. | department |
| DG | Dei gratia (by the grace of God) |
| DIA | Defense Intelligence Agency |
| DIY | do-it-yourself |
| DJ | disc jockey |
| DNA | deoxyribonucleic acid |
| do. | ditto (the same) |
| DOA | dead on arrival |
| DOC | Department of Commerce |
| DOD | Department of Defense |
| DOE | Department of Energy |
| DOL | Department of Labor |
| DOS | disk operating system |
| DOT | Department of Transportation |
| DP | data processing |
| Dr. | doctor |
| DST | daylight saving time |
| DTP | desktop publishing |
| DV | Deo volente (God willing) |
| DVD | digital video disc |
| E | east |
| ea. | each |
| EARM | electrically alterable read-only memory |
| EC | European Community |
| ECG | electrocardiogram |
| ECOSOC | Economic and Social Council (of the United Nations) |
| ECT | electroconvulsive therapy |
| EEG | electroencephalogram |
| e.g. | exempli gratia (for example) (See words often confused) |
| e-mail | electronic mail |
| EMF | electromotive force |
| EMU | electromagnetic unit |
| ENIAC | electronic numeral indicator and calculator |
| EPA | Environmental Protection Agency |
| EPOS | electronic point of sale |
| ER | Elizabetha Regina (Queen Elizabeth); emergency room |
| ESA | European Space Agency |
| ESP | extra-sensory perception |
| esp. | especially |
| EST | Eastern Standard Time |
| est. | estimate |
| ETA | estimated time of arrival |
| et al. | et alia (and others) |
| etc. | et cetera (and so on) |
| et seq. | et sequentia (and the following) |
| EU | European Union |
| excl. | excludes |
| ext. | exterior/extended; extension |
| F | Fahrenheit |
| f | forte (loud) |
| FAA | Federal Aviation Administration |
| FAO | Food and Agriculture Organization (United Nations) |
| FBI | Federal Bureau of Investigation |
| FDA | Food and Drug Administration |
| Feb. | February |
| fec. | fecit (made this) |
| fem. | feminine |
| ff | fortissimo (very loud) |
| FHA | Federal Housing Administration |
| FHWA | Federal Highway Administration |
| FILO | first in, last out |
| FL | Florida |
| fl. | floruit (flourished) |
| FM | frequency modulation |
| foll. | followed |
| FORTRAN | formula translation |
| FPS | foot-pound-second |
| Fri. | Friday |
| ft. | foot, feet |
| FTAA | Free Trade Area of the Americas |
| FWA | Federal Works Agency |
| GA | Georgia |
| GATT | General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade |
| GB | Great Britain |
| GBH | grievous bodily harm |
| GDP | gross domestic product |
| Gen. | general |
| GHQ | general headquarters |
| GI | government issue |
| GIGO | garbage in, garbage out |
| GMT | Greenwich Mean Time |
| GNP | gross national product |
| GOC | general officer commanding |
| GSA | General Services Administration |
| GU | Guam |
| GUT | grand unified theory |
| GW | gigawatt |
| HE | His/Her Excellency |
| HF | high frequency |
| HH | His/Her Highness; His/Her Honour; His Holiness |
| HI | Hawaii |
| HIH | His/Her Imperial Highness |
| HIM | His/Her Imperial Majesty |
| HIV | human immunodeficiency virus |
| HJS | hic jacet sepultus (here lies buried) |
| HM | His/Her Majesty |
| HMO | health maintenance organization |
| HMS | His/Her Majesty's Ship/Service |
| Hon. | Honorary; Honorable |
| hp | horsepower |
| HQ | headquarters |
| HR | House of Representatives |
| HRH | His/Her Royal Highness |
| HRT | hormone replacement therapy |
| HTML | hypertext markup language |
| I. | island |
| IA | Iowa |
| IAEA | International Atomic Energy Agency |
| IATA | International Air Transport Association |
| ibid. | ibidem (in the same place) |
| IBM | International Business Machines |
| ICAO | International Civil Aviation Organization |
| ICBM | intercontinental ballistic missile |
| ID | Idaho; identification |
| id. | idem (already mentioned) |
| i.e. | id est (that is) (See words often confused) |
| IHS | Iesus Hominum Salvator (Jesus the Savior of Mankind) |
| IL | Illinois |
| ILO | International Labor Organization |
| IMF | International Monetary Fund |
| IN | Indiana |
| in. | inch, inches |
| Inc. | incorporated |
| incl. | includes |
| INRI | Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudeorum (Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews) |
| inst. | instant (current month) |
| INTELSAT | International Telecommunications Satellite Organization |
| interj. | interjection |
| Interpol | International Criminal Police Commission |
| intr. | intransitive |
| IOC | International Olympic Committee |
| IOU | I owe you |
| IPA | International Phonetic Alphabet |
| IQ | intelligence quotient |
| IRBM | intermediate-range ballistic missile |
| IRC | International Red Cross |
| IRS | Internal Revenue Service |
| Is. | islands |
| ISBN | International Standard Book Number |
| ISDN | integrated services digital network |
| ISP | Internet service provider |
| ISSN | International Standard Serial Number |
| IT | information technology |
| IUD | intrauterine device |
| IVF | in vitro fertilization |
| Jan. | January |
| Jul. | July |
| Jun. | June |
| KGB | Komitet Gosudarstvennoye Bezhopaznosti (Committee of State Security) |
| kHz | kiloHertz |
| KJV | King James Version (Bible) |
| KKK | Ku Klux Klan |
| km | kilometer |
| KO | knockout |
| kPC | kiloparsec |
| KS | Kansas |
| kW | kilowatt |
| kWh | kilowatt hour |
| KY | Kentucky |
| LA | Los Angeles; Louisiana |
| LAPD | Los Angeles Police Department |
| lat. | latitude |
| lb. | pound |
| lc | lower case (printing) |
| LCD | liquid-crystal display |
| LED | light-emitting diode |
| loc. cit. | loco citato (in the place cited) |
| long. | longitude |
| LPG | liquefied petroleum gas |
| LSD | lysergic acid diethylamide |
| Lt. | lieutenant |
| Ltd. | limited (liability) |
| LV | luncheon voucher |
| LW | long wave |
| m | meter; mile |
| M. | Monsieur |
| MA | Massachusetts |
| Maj. | major |
| Mar. | March |
| masc. | masculine |
| MASH | Mobile Army Surgical Hospital |
| max. | maximum |
| MC | master of ceremonies |
| MD | managing director; Maryland |
| MDMA | methylenedioxymethamphetamine |
| ME | Maine; myalgic encephalomyelitis |
| mg | milligram |
| Mgr. | Monsignor |
| MH | Medal of Honor |
| MI | Michigan; Military Intelligence |
| MIA | missing in action |
| min. | minimum; minute |
| MIRV | multiple independently targeted reentry vehicle |
| ml | milliliter |
| Mlle. | Mademoiselle |
| MLR | minimum lending rate |
| mm | millimeter |
| Mme. | Madame |
| MMF | magnetomotive force |
| MN | Minnesota |
| MO | medical officer; Missouri |
| MODEM | modulator/demodulator |
| MOH | Medal of Honor |
| Mon. | Monday |
| MP | Military Police |
| MPC | megaparsec |
| mph | miles per hour |
| Mr. | Mister |
| MRA | Moral Rearmament |
| Mrs. | Mistress (married woman) |
| MS | manuscript; Mississippi; multiple sclerosis |
| MSG | monosodium glutamate |
| MST | Mountain Standard Time |
| MT | Montana |
| Mt. | Mount; million tonnes |
| MV | merchant vessel; motor vessel |
| MW | medium wave |
| N | north |
| n. | noun |
| n/a | not applicable; not available |
| NAACP | National Association for the Advancement of Colored People |
| NAFTA | North American Free Trade Agreement |
| NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
| NASDA | National Space Development Agency |
| NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
| NB | nota bene (note well) |
| NBA | National Basketball Association |
| NBC | National Broadcasting Corporation |
| NC | North Carolina |
| NCO | noncommissioned officer |
| ND | North Dakota |
| NE | Nebraska; northeast |
| NFC | National Football Conference |
| NFL | National Football League |
| NH | New Hampshire |
| NHL | National Hockey League |
| NICAM | near instantaneously companded audio multiplex |
| NIMBY | not in my back yard |
| NIV | New International Version (Bible) |
| NJ | New Jersey |
| NM | New Mexico |
| NMR | nuclear magnetic resonance |
| no. | number |
| Nov. | November |
| NPS | National Park Service |
| NRA | National Recovery Administration; National Rifle Association |
| NSA | National Security Agency |
| NSC | National Security Council |
| NT | New Testament |
| NV | Nevada |
| NW | northwest |
| NY | New York |
| NYC | New York City |
| NYPD | New York Police Department |
| NZ | New Zealand |
| OAPEC | Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| OAS | Organization of American States |
| OAU | Organization of African Unity |
| OB | outside broadcast |
| ob. | obiit (died) |
| OCR | optical character recognition/reader |
| Oct. | October |
| OED | Oxford English Dictionary |
| OH | Ohio |
| OHP | overhead projector |
| OK | Oklahoma |
| ONO | or near offer |
| op. | opus (work) |
| op. cit. | opere citato (in the work cited) |
| OPEC | Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries |
| OR | Oregon |
| OS | Old Style (calendar) |
| OT | Old Testament |
| oz. | ounce |
| p | piano (softly) |
| p. | page |
| PA | Pennsylvania; personal assistant |
| PC | personal computer; politically correct |
| PCP | phenylcyclohexylpiperidine |
| PDR | precision depth recorder |
| PE | physical education |
| PGA | Professional Golfers' Association |
| PH | Purple Heart |
| PHS | Public Health Service |
| PIN | personal identification number |
| Pl. | Place |
| pl. | plural |
| P.M. | post meridiem (after noon) |
| PMS | premenstrual syndrome |
| pop. | population |
| POW | prisoner of war |
| pp. | pages |
| p.p. | per procurationem (on behalf of) |
| PR | proportional representation; public relations; Puerto Rico |
| prep. | preposition |
| PRO | public relations officer |
| Prof. | professor |
| PROM | programmable read-only memory |
| pron. | pronoun |
| P.S. | postscript |
| PST | Pacific Standard Time |
| pt. | point |
| PTFE | polytetrafluoroethylene |
| PTO | please turn over |
| PVA | polyvinyl acetate |
| PVC | polyvinyl chloride |
| Pvt. | private |
| PWA | Public Works Administration |
| PWR | pressurized-water reactor |
| QCD | quantum chromodynamics |
| QED | quantum electrodynamics; quod erat demonstrandum (which was to be proved) |
| q.v. | quod vide (which see) |
| RAF | Royal Air Force |
| RAM | random access memory |
| RC | Red Cross; Roman Catholic |
| Rd. | road |
| RDA | recommended daily allowance |
| REM | rapid eye movement |
| Rep. | representative; Republican |
| Rev. | reverend |
| RI | Rhode Island |
| RIP | requiescat in pace (rest in peace) |
| RMS | root mean square |
| RN | Royal Navy |
| RNA | ribonucleic acid |
| ROM | read-only memory |
| RPG | rocket propelled grenade |
| RPM | resale price maintenance; revolutions per minute |
| RRP | recommended retail price |
| RSI | repetitive strain injury |
| RSVP | répondez s'il vous plaît (please reply) |
| RTA | road traffic accident |
| S | south |
| s. | second |
| SAE | stamped addressed envelope |
| SALT | Strategic Arms Limitation Talks |
| SAM | surface-to-air missile |
| SASE | Self-addressed stamped envelope |
| Sat. | Saturday |
| SC | South Carolina |
| SD | South Dakota |
| SDI | strategic defense initiative |
| SE | southeast |
| SEATO | South-East Asia Treaty Organization |
| Sen. | senator |
| Sept. | September |
| SHF | super-high frequency |
| SI | Système International (International System) |
| SIDS | Sudden Infant Death Syndrome |
| sing. | singular |
| SLR | single-lens reflex |
| SOR | sale or return |
| SOS | save our souls |
| sq. | square |
| SS | Schutzstaffel (Protective Squad) |
| SSA | Social Security Administration |
| SSN | Social Security Number |
| SSR | Soviet Socialist Republic |
| St | saint; street |
| START | Strategic Arms Reduction Talks |
| STD | sexually transmitted disease |
| Sub. Lt. | sublieutenant |
| Sun. | Sunday |
| SW | short wave; southwest |
| SWF | single white female |
| TASS | Telegrafnoe Agentsvo Sovetskovo Soyuza (Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union) |
| TB | tuberculosis |
| TBA | to be announced |
| TCP | trichlorophenylmethyliodialicyl |
| Thurs. | Thursday |
| TN | Tennessee |
| TNT | trinitrotoluene |
| tr. | transitive |
| Tues. | Tuesday |
| TV | television |
| TVA | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| TVP | textured vegetable protein |
| TX | Texas |
| TXT | text file |
| uc | upper case (printing) |
| UFO | unidentified flying object |
| UHF | ultra-high frequency |
| UHT | ultra-high temperature |
| UK | United Kingdom |
| UN | United Nations |
| UNCTAD | United Nations Conference on Trade and Development |
| UNESCO | United Nations Economic, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
| UNHCR | United Nations High Commission for Refugees |
| UNICEF | United Nations Children's Fund |
| UNO | United Nations Organization |
| UNRWA | United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East |
| UNSC | United Nations Security Council |
| URL | uniform-universal resource locator |
| U.S. | United States |
| USA | United States Army; United States of America |
| USAF | United States Air Force |
| USAID | United States Agency for International Development |
| USCG | United States Coast Guard |
| USDA | United States Department of Agriculture |
| USES | United States Employment Service |
| USIA | United States Information Agency |
| USMC | United States Marine Corps |
| USN | United States Navy |
| USS | United States Ship |
| USSR | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
| UT | Utah |
| UV | ultraviolet |
| v. | versus |
| VA | Virginia |
| vb. | verb |
| VCR | videocassette recorder |
| VD | venereal disease |
| VDU | visual display unit |
| VHF | very high frequency |
| VHS | video home system |
| VI | Virgin Islands |
| VIP | very important person |
| VLF | very low frequency |
| VOA | Voice of America |
| vol. | volume |
| vs. | versus |
| VT | Vermont |
| VTR | videotape recorder |
| W | west |
| WA | Washington |
| WASP | white Anglo-Saxon Protestant |
| WBA | World Boxing Association |
| WBC | World Boxing Council |
| Wed. | Wednesday |
| WHO | World Health Organization |
| WI | Wisconsin |
| WMO | World Meteorological Organization |
| wt. | weight |
| WTO | World Trade Organization |
| WV | West Virginia |
| WWF | World Wildlife Fund |
| www | World Wide Web |
| WY | Wyoming |
| WYSIWYG | what you see is what you get |
| yd. | yard |
| YMCA | Young Men's Christian Association |
| yr. | year |
| Yrs | yours |
| YUPPIE | young upwardly mobile professional |
| YWCA | Young Women's Christian Association |
Symbols
The use of symbols in the place of words is an accepted practice that works as long as all parties are familiar with their meaning. Mathematical and scientific symbols are essential to the understanding of formulae and calculations, but other symbols (such as & and #) are best reserved for note taking and other informal contexts.| Symbol | Meaning | Symbol | Meaning |
|---|
| & | and (ampersand) | # | number |
| * | see note (asterisk) | + | plus |
| - | minus | % | percent |
| × | multiplied by | @ | at |
| + | divided by | $ | dollar(s) |
| = | equals | ¢ | cents(s) |
| ≠ | does not equal | £ | pound(s) sterling |
| < | less than | € | euro(s) |
| > | greater than | © | copyright |
| ≤ | less than or equal to | ® | registered |
| ≥ | greater than or equal to | ™ | trademark |
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