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{{For|abbreviations used by Wikipedians in discussion on talk pages and other non-article pages|Wikipedia:Glossary}} |
{{For|abbreviations used by Wikipedians in discussion on talk pages and other non-article pages|Wikipedia:Glossary}} |
||
This [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]] |
This [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Wikipedia Manual of Style]] is to provide guidelines for the use of [[abbreviation]]s, including [[acronym]]s, [[contraction]]s, [[initialism]]s and [[shortening]]s, in the [[English Wikipedia]] and [[Simple English Wikipedia]]. Adherence to the following guidelines is recommended because maintaining consistency will allow Wikipedia to be read, written, edited, navigated and used more easily by readers and editors alike. The style should always be consistent within a page. If a guideline conflicts with the proper usage of a [[proper name]], ignore it. Written quotes should always be written exactly as the original source, unless the quote is a translation. |
||
Always consider whether an abbreviation may be better simply written out in full, thus avoiding potential confusion for those not familiar with it – Wikipedia does not have the same space constraints as paper. |
Always consider whether an abbreviation may be better simply written out in full, thus avoiding potential confusion for those not familiar with it – Wikipedia does not have the same space constraints as paper. |
||
== |
==Full stops in abbreviations== |
||
Modern usage is to use a [[full stop]] after a shortening, but no full stops with an acronym, contraction or initialism. In [[American English]], full stops may be used with initialisms and one-word contractions, but acronyms should never contain full stops. Whatever style is used, it should be consistent throughout an article. |
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==Acronyms and initialism== |
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Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviation formed from the initial letters of words in a phrase; the difference being acronyms are pronounced as the word is spelled, whereas in initialisms, each letter is pronounced individually. Some acronyms are written with all capital letters, some with a mixture of capitals and lower case letters and some are written as [[common noun]]s. All initialisms are written in capitals. Plural acronyms and initialisms are written with a lowercase "s" afterwards, without an apostrophe unless full stops are used between letters. Unless it is on the tables below, an acronym or initialism should be written out in full the first time it is used, with the abbreviation in brackets afterwards (e.g. {{xt|Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)}}). In tables, [[infobox]]es and [[navbox]]es, acronyms and initialisms do not need to be written out in full. |
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===Acronyms that can be used without spelling out in full first=== |
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Acronyms on this table do not need to written out in full the first time they are used in an article, except in their own articles. |
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{| class="wikitable sortable" |
|||
! Acronym !! Phrase |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[AIDS]] || acquired immunodeficiency syndrome |
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|- |
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| [[laser]] || light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation |
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|- |
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| [[NASA]] || National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
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|- |
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| [[NATO]] || North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
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|- |
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| [[quango]] || quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization |
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|- |
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| [[radar]] || radio detection and ranging |
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|- |
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| [[scuba]] || self-contained underwater breathing apparatus |
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|- |
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| [[sonar]] || sound navigation and ranging |
|||
|- |
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| [[UNESCO]] || United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
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|- |
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| [[UNICEF]] || United Nations Children's Fund |
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|} |
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===Initialisms that can be used without spelling out in full first=== |
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{| class="wikitable sortable" |
|||
! Initialism !! Phrase |
|||
|- |
|||
| [[AD]] || ''Anno Domini'' |
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|- |
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| [[AKA]] || also known as |
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|- |
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| [[BBC]] || British Broadcasting Service |
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|- |
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| [[Before Christ|BC]] || Before Christ |
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|- |
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| [[CD]] || Compact Disc |
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| - |
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| [[EU]] || European Union |
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|- |
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| [[Her Majesty's Ship|HMS]] || Her (or His) Majesty's Ship |
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|- |
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| [[N/A]]<ref>N/A is an exception to the normal format of initialisms. It should always be written {{xt|N/A}} and never {{!xt|NA}} or {{!xt|N.A.}}</ref> || not applicable |
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|- |
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| [[Personal Computer|PC]] || personal computer |
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|- |
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| [[UAE]] || United Arab Emirates |
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|- |
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| [[UK]] || United Kingdom |
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|- |
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| [[UN]] || United Nations |
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|- |
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| [[US]]<ref>{{!xt|USA}}, {{!xt|U.S.A.}} and {{!xt|U. S. of A.}} should not be used.</ref> || United States |
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|- |
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| [[USB]] || Universal Serial Bus |
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|- |
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| [[USSR]] || Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
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|} |
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===Acronyms and initialisms in article titles=== |
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{{Main|Wikipedia:Naming conventions}} |
{{Main|Wikipedia:Naming conventions}} |
||
Acronyms should be used in page naming if the subject is almost exclusively known only by its acronym |
Acronyms should be used in page naming if the subject is almost exclusively known only by its acronym and is widely known and used in that form (e.g. [[NASA]] and [[radar]]). In order to determine the prominence of the abbreviation over the full name, consider checking how the subject is referred to in popular media such as newspapers, magazines, and other publications. |
||
Many acronyms are used for several things; naming an article with the full name helps to avoid clashes. A useful test to determine what an acronym usually refers to can be done by checking [http://www.abbreviations.com abbreviations.com], and finding the relative usage for the acronym. If it is found that an acronym is chiefly used to refer to a particular subject, the article on that subject can be expressed as the acronym. A [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation page]] can then be created for the other subjects. |
Many acronyms are used for several things; naming an article with the full name helps to avoid clashes. A useful test to determine what an acronym usually refers to can be done by checking [http://www.abbreviations.com abbreviations.com], and finding the relative usage for the acronym. If it is found that an acronym is chiefly used to refer to a particular subject, the article on that subject can be expressed as the acronym. A [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation page]] can then be created for the other subjects. |
||
Whether the |
Whether the acronym or the spelled-out phrase is preferable in many particular cases is debatable, but this can work itself out with the <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[new page name]]</nowiki></code> command. For instance, [[DMCA]] and [[Digital Millennium Copyright Act]] have oscillated as to which is primary and which page redirects. Other less controversial pairs are [[MPAA]] versus [[Motion Picture Association of America]] and [[IMDb]] versus [[Internet Movie Database]]. |
||
However, in many cases no decision is necessary because a given acronym has several expansions, none of which is the most prominent. Under such circumstances the articles should be at the spelled-out phrases and the acronym should be a |
However, in many cases no decision is necessary because a given acronym has several expansions, none of which is the most prominent. Under such circumstances the articles should be at the spelled-out phrases and the acronym should be a disambiguation article providing descriptive links to all of them. See, for example, [[AJAR]], which disambiguates between [[Australian Journal of Agricultural Research]] and [[African Journal of AIDS Research]]. If the acronym and the full name are both in common use, both pages should certainly be created, and one should redirect to the other (or be a disambiguation listing). |
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==Acronyms as disambiguators== |
===Acronyms and initialisms as disambiguators=== |
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* To make link text follow the MoS, please use standard abbreviations as disambiguators, when necessary. For example, [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)]] and [[Labour Party (UK)]]. Abbreviations are preferred over "United States" and "United Kingdom", for brevity. |
* To make link text follow the MoS, please use standard abbreviations as disambiguators, when necessary. For example, [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)]] and [[Labour Party (UK)]]. Abbreviations are preferred over "United States" and "United Kingdom", for brevity. |
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* To help |
* To help navigation, please create redirects that contain (US) and (U.S.). For example, [[Great Northern Railway (US)]] should redirect to [[Great Northern Railway (U.S.)]]. |
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==Acronyms in |
===Acronyms and initialisms in category names=== |
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The full name should always be the first reference in an article, and thereafter acronyms are acceptable, as long as the acronym is given as an explicit alternative early (usually in parentheses). If used, acronyms should be used consistently throughout the article. There is no hard rule about periods—in general, avoid them. In either case, a consistent format should be employed throughout the article. |
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==Acronyms in category names== |
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For the use of acronyms in names of categories, see discussion at [[Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (categories)/Archive 7#Abbreviations: to expand or not to expand?]]. |
For the use of acronyms in names of categories, see discussion at [[Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (categories)/Archive 7#Abbreviations: to expand or not to expand?]]. |
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== |
==Abbreviations not included in this guideline== |
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* |
*Abbreviations in names of ''persons'', see: |
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** |
**[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people)#Middle names - abbreviations of names]] |
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** |
**[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (biographies)#Post-nominal initials]] |
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*[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships)]], for example: [[RMS Queen Elizabeth 2]]; [[USS Monitor]];... |
*[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships)]], for example: [[RMS Queen Elizabeth 2]]; [[USS Monitor]];... |
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*[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (aircraft)]], for example: [[Douglas DC-3]]; [[Nakajima B5N]];... |
*[[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (aircraft)]], for example: [[Douglas DC-3]]; [[Nakajima B5N]];... |
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|- |
|- |
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| [[Approximation|approximately]] || approx. |
| [[Approximation|approximately]] || approx. |
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|- |
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| [[also known as]] || a.k.a. |
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|- |
|- |
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| [[Brothers]] || Bros. (should only be used in the names of companies) |
| [[Brothers]] || Bros. (should only be used in the names of companies) |
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|- |
|- |
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| [[gross national product]] || GNP |
| [[gross national product]] || GNP |
||
|- |
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| [[Her Majesty's Ship]] || HMS |
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|- |
|- |
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| ''[[id est]]'' ("that is", "in other words") || i.e. |
| ''[[id est]]'' ("that is", "in other words") || i.e. |
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|- |
|- |
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| [[not applicable]] || N/A (do not use {{!xt|n/a}}, {{!xt|NA}} or {{!xt|N.A.}}) |
| [[not applicable]] || N/A (do not use {{!xt|n/a}}, {{!xt|NA}} or {{!xt|N.A.}}) |
||
|- |
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| [[personal computer]] || PC |
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|- |
|- |
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| [[publisher]] (published) || pub. (pubd.) |
| [[publisher]] (published) || pub. (pubd.) |
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|- |
|- |
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! colspan="2" | Time |
! colspan="2" | Time |
||
|- |
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| ''[[Anno Domini]]'' ("in the year of the Lord") || AD |
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|- |
|- |
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| ''[[ante meridiem]]'' ("before noon") || am or a.m. |
| ''[[ante meridiem]]'' ("before noon") || am or a.m. |
||
<!--|- |
<!--|- |
||
| born || born (per [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Dates of birth and death|dates of birth]] style)--> |
| born || born (per [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Dates of birth and death|dates of birth]] style)--> |
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|- |
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| [[Before Christ]] || BC |
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|- |
|- |
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| [[Before the Common Era]] || BCE |
| [[Before the Common Era]] || BCE |
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|- |
|- |
||
| [[European New Car Assessment Programme]] || Euro NCAP (not {{!xt|EuroNCAP}}) |
| [[European New Car Assessment Programme]] || Euro NCAP (not {{!xt|EuroNCAP}}) |
||
|- |
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| [[European Union]] || EU |
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|- |
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| [[Inland Revenue]] || IR |
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|- |
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| [[Internal Revenue Service]] || IRS |
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|- |
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| [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] || IAEA |
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|- |
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| [[National Aeronautics and Space Administration]] || NASA |
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|- |
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| [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] || NAACP |
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|- |
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| [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization]] || NATO |
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|- |
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| [[Organization of American States]] || OAS |
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|- |
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| [[Royal Air Force]] || RAF |
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|- |
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| [[Royal Navy]] || RN |
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|- |
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| [[Securities and Exchange Commission]] || SEC |
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|- |
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| [[Southeast Asia Treaty Organization]] || SEATO |
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|- |
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| [[Union of Soviet Socialist Republics]] || USSR |
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|- |
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| [[United Arab Emirates]] || UAE |
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|- |
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| [[United Kingdom]] || UK |
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|- |
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| [[United Nations Children's Fund]] || UNICEF |
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|- |
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| [[United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization]] || UNESCO |
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|- |
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| [[United Nations]] (United Nations Organization) || UN (UNO) |
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|- |
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| [[United States Air Force]] || USAF |
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|- |
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| [[United States Army]] || USA |
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|- |
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| [[United States Coast Guard]] || USCG |
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|- |
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| [[United States Marine Corps]] || USMC |
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|- |
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| [[United States Navy]] || USN |
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|- |
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| [[United States|United States of America]] (United States) || US or U.S. (do not use {{!xt|USA}}, {{!xt|U.S.A.}} or {{!xt|U. S. of A.}}) |
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|- |
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| [[World Health Organization]] || WHO |
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|- |
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| [[World Wide Fund for Nature]] || WWF |
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|- |
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| [[Young Men's Christian Association]] || YMCA |
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|- |
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| [[Young Women's Christian Association]] || YWCA |
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|} |
|} |
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*[[Wikipedia:Disambiguation]] |
*[[Wikipedia:Disambiguation]] |
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*[[Wikipedia:Edit summary legend]] |
*[[Wikipedia:Edit summary legend]] |
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==Notes== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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[[Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (formatting)]] |
[[Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (formatting)]] |
Revision as of 05:37, 27 October 2010
Manual of Style (MoS) |
---|
This Wikipedia Manual of Style is to provide guidelines for the use of abbreviations, including acronyms, contractions, initialisms and shortenings, in the English Wikipedia and Simple English Wikipedia. Adherence to the following guidelines is recommended because maintaining consistency will allow Wikipedia to be read, written, edited, navigated and used more easily by readers and editors alike. The style should always be consistent within a page. If a guideline conflicts with the proper usage of a proper name, ignore it. Written quotes should always be written exactly as the original source, unless the quote is a translation.
Always consider whether an abbreviation may be better simply written out in full, thus avoiding potential confusion for those not familiar with it – Wikipedia does not have the same space constraints as paper.
Full stops in abbreviations
Modern usage is to use a full stop after a shortening, but no full stops with an acronym, contraction or initialism. In American English, full stops may be used with initialisms and one-word contractions, but acronyms should never contain full stops. Whatever style is used, it should be consistent throughout an article.
Acronyms and initialism
Acronyms and initialisms are abbreviation formed from the initial letters of words in a phrase; the difference being acronyms are pronounced as the word is spelled, whereas in initialisms, each letter is pronounced individually. Some acronyms are written with all capital letters, some with a mixture of capitals and lower case letters and some are written as common nouns. All initialisms are written in capitals. Plural acronyms and initialisms are written with a lowercase "s" afterwards, without an apostrophe unless full stops are used between letters. Unless it is on the tables below, an acronym or initialism should be written out in full the first time it is used, with the abbreviation in brackets afterwards (e.g. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)). In tables, infoboxes and navboxes, acronyms and initialisms do not need to be written out in full.
Acronyms that can be used without spelling out in full first
Acronyms on this table do not need to written out in full the first time they are used in an article, except in their own articles.
Acronym | Phrase |
---|---|
AIDS | acquired immunodeficiency syndrome |
laser | light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation |
NASA | National Aeronautics and Space Administration |
NATO | North Atlantic Treaty Organization |
quango | quasi-autonomous non-governmental organization |
radar | radio detection and ranging |
scuba | self-contained underwater breathing apparatus |
sonar | sound navigation and ranging |
UNESCO | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization |
UNICEF | United Nations Children's Fund |
Initialisms that can be used without spelling out in full first
Initialism | Phrase | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
AD | Anno Domini | |||
AKA | also known as | |||
BBC | British Broadcasting Service | |||
BC | Before Christ | |||
CD | Compact Disc | - | EU | European Union |
HMS | Her (or His) Majesty's Ship | |||
N/A[1] | not applicable | |||
PC | personal computer | |||
UAE | United Arab Emirates | |||
UK | United Kingdom | |||
UN | United Nations | |||
US[2] | United States | |||
USB | Universal Serial Bus | |||
USSR | Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |
Acronyms and initialisms in article titles
Acronyms should be used in page naming if the subject is almost exclusively known only by its acronym and is widely known and used in that form (e.g. NASA and radar). In order to determine the prominence of the abbreviation over the full name, consider checking how the subject is referred to in popular media such as newspapers, magazines, and other publications.
Many acronyms are used for several things; naming an article with the full name helps to avoid clashes. A useful test to determine what an acronym usually refers to can be done by checking abbreviations.com, and finding the relative usage for the acronym. If it is found that an acronym is chiefly used to refer to a particular subject, the article on that subject can be expressed as the acronym. A disambiguation page can then be created for the other subjects.
Whether the acronym or the spelled-out phrase is preferable in many particular cases is debatable, but this can work itself out with the #REDIRECT [[new page name]]
command. For instance, DMCA and Digital Millennium Copyright Act have oscillated as to which is primary and which page redirects. Other less controversial pairs are MPAA versus Motion Picture Association of America and IMDb versus Internet Movie Database.
However, in many cases no decision is necessary because a given acronym has several expansions, none of which is the most prominent. Under such circumstances the articles should be at the spelled-out phrases and the acronym should be a disambiguation article providing descriptive links to all of them. See, for example, AJAR, which disambiguates between Australian Journal of Agricultural Research and African Journal of AIDS Research. If the acronym and the full name are both in common use, both pages should certainly be created, and one should redirect to the other (or be a disambiguation listing).
Acronyms and initialisms as disambiguators
- To make link text follow the MoS, please use standard abbreviations as disambiguators, when necessary. For example, Great Northern Railway (U.S.) and Labour Party (UK). Abbreviations are preferred over "United States" and "United Kingdom", for brevity.
- To help navigation, please create redirects that contain (US) and (U.S.). For example, Great Northern Railway (US) should redirect to Great Northern Railway (U.S.).
Acronyms and initialisms in category names
For the use of acronyms in names of categories, see discussion at Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (categories)/Archive 7#Abbreviations: to expand or not to expand?.
Abbreviations not included in this guideline
- Abbreviations in names of persons, see:
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (ships), for example: RMS Queen Elizabeth 2; USS Monitor;...
- Wikipedia:Naming conventions (aircraft), for example: Douglas DC-3; Nakajima B5N;...
Widely used abbreviations in Wikipedia
In Wikipedia, abbreviations for common terms are often contained in parentheses within the head paragraph. Wikipedia has found it both practical and efficient to use the following abbreviations, although some can often be replaced by unabbreviated equivalents ("that is" for i.e., "namely" for viz., and so on).
Word(s) | Abbreviation |
---|---|
General abbreviations | |
abbreviation | abbr. |
Absent Without Leave | AWL |
Absence Without Official Leave | AWOL |
amplitude modulation | AM |
approximately | approx. |
Brothers | Bros. (should only be used in the names of companies) |
circa ("around", "about", "approximately") | c. (do not use ca.) |
Company | Co. (commercial) or Coy. (military) |
confer ("compare", "consult") | cf. |
department | dept. or dept |
district | dist. |
division | div. |
edition/editor (editions/editors) | ed. (eds.) |
et alii ("and others") | et al. |
et cetera ("and so forth") | etc. (do not use &c.) |
exempli gratia ("for example") | e.g. |
floruit ("flourished") | fl. (link first use in an article) (do not use flor. or flr.) |
frequency modulation | FM |
gross domestic product | GDP |
gross national product | GNP |
id est ("that is", "in other words") | i.e. |
manufacturer/manufactory (manufacturing) | mfr. (mfg.) |
not applicable | N/A (do not use n/a, NA or N.A.) |
publisher (published) | pub. (pubd.) |
revised | rev. |
United States Ship | USS |
versus ("against", "in contrast to") | vs or vs.; v. or v (legal) |
videlicet ("that is to say", "namely") | viz. (link first use in an article) |
volume | vol. |
Time | |
ante meridiem ("before noon") | am or a.m. |
Before the Common Era | BCE |
Common Era | CE |
Greenwich Mean Time | GMT |
Coordinated Universal Time | UTC |
post meridiem ("after noon") | pm or p.m. |
Places | |
Avenue | Ave. or Ave |
Boulevard | Blvd or Blvd. |
Crescent | Cr. or Cr |
Close | Cl. or Cl |
Highway | Hwy or Hwy. |
Latitude | lat. |
Longitude | long. |
Motorway | Mwy |
Mountain/Mount | Mt or Mt. |
Road | Rd or Rd. |
Street | St. or St |
Organizations | |
Academy | Acad. |
Association | Assn or Assn. |
Corporation | Corp. or Corp |
Incorporated | Inc. or Inc |
Institute/Institution | Inst. |
Limited | Ltd or Ltd. |
Public limited company | PLC, plc or p.l.c. |
University | Univ. or U. |
Academic degrees, titles and ranks | |
Bachelor of Arts (Artium Baccalaureus) | BA or B.A. (or A.B.) |
Bachelor of Laws (Legum Baccalaureus) | LLB or LL.B. |
Bachelor of Science | BS, B.S., BSc or B.Sc. |
Captain | Capt. or Capt |
Colonel | Col. or Col |
Commander | Cmdr., Cdr., Cdr or Comdr. |
Corporal | Cpl or Cpl. |
Doctor | Dr or Dr. |
Doctor of Medicine (Medicinæ Doctor) | MD or M.D. |
Doctor of Philosophy (Philosophiæ Doctor) | PhD or Ph.D. |
General | Gen. or Gen |
Honorable | Hon. |
Junior | Jr or Jr. |
Lieutenant | Lt or Lt. |
Mister | Mr or Mr. |
Mistress | Mrs or Mrs. |
Monsignor | Msgr, Msgr. or Mons. |
registered nurse | RN or R.N. |
Reverend | Rev. or Rev |
Right Honourable | Rt. Hon. or Rt Hon |
Saint | St or St. |
Senior | Sr or Sr. |
Sergeant | Sgt or Sgt. |
Staff Sergeant | SSgt or SSgt. |
Technical Sergeant | TSgt or TSgt. |
States and organisations | |
European New Car Assessment Programme | Euro NCAP (not EuroNCAP) |
Special considerations
- Current and former postal codes and abbreviations—such as TX for Texas, Calif. for California, Yorks for Yorkshire—should not be used to stand in for the full names in normal text.
- Mt or Mt. should not be used. Mount or Mountain should be spelled out in most situations. Exceptions are made for official names and registered trademarks.
- "Saint" vs "St" or "St." in placenames should depend upon the official usage.
- Editors should almost invariably give the full name of something to be abbreviated the first time it is used, unless it is part of everyday speech and writing (such as "e.g.", "2 a.m." etc.). For example, "The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is heavily involved with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). WIPO's long-standing ICANN role ..."
- Abbreviations should be written in the same fashion each time they are used within the same article (e.g. "US" and "U.S." should not be alternated). Any special cases should have a natural reason (perhaps a list of officers in a joint Anglo-American taskforce) that should be obvious to the reader; stating such a reason in a hidden note will help other editors to maintain it.
- If a sentence ends with a dotted abbreviation, do not double the dot to signify the end of the sentence.
See also
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Acronyms and abbreviations
- Wikipedia:Disambiguation
- Wikipedia:Edit summary legend