Wikipedia:Manual of Style (abbreviations)
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In Wikipedia, abbreviations for common terms are often in parentheses within the head paragraph. Wikipedia has found it both practical and efficient to use the following abbreviations.
Word(s) | Abbreviation |
---|---|
General abbreviations | |
abbreviation | abbr. |
department | dept. or dept |
district | dist. |
division | div. |
edition | ed. |
established | est. |
et alii (and others) | et al. |
et cetera (and the rest) | etc. |
exempli gratia (for example) | e.g. |
id est (that is) | i.e. |
publisher/published | pub. |
revised | rev. |
videlicet (that is to say, namely) | viz. |
volume | vol. |
Time | |
Anno Domini (in the year of the Lord) | AD or A.D. |
ante meridiem (before noon) | a.m. or am |
Before Christ | BC or B.C. |
Before the Common Era | BCE |
Common Era | CE |
Greenwich Mean Time | GMT |
post meridiem (after noon) | p.m. or pm |
Places | |
Avenue | Ave. or Ave |
Boulevard | Blvd or Blvd. |
Highway | Hwy or Hwy. |
Latitude | lat. |
Longitude | long. |
Mount, mountain | Mt or Mt. |
Road | Rd or Rd. |
Street | St or St. |
Organizations | |
Academy | Acad. |
Association | Assn or Assn. |
Corporation | Corp. |
Incorporated | Inc. |
Institute/Institution | Inst. |
Limited | Ltd or Ltd. |
University | Univ. |
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 or B.S., BSc or B.Sc. |
Captain | Capt. or Capt |
Colonel | Col. or Col |
Commander | Comdr. or Cdr |
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. |
Missus | Mrs or Mrs. |
Monsignor | Msgr |
registered nurse | RN or R.N. |
Reverend | 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 | |
Grand Old Party (US Republican Party) | GOP |
Internal Revenue Service | IRS |
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People | NAACP |
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | NASA or Nasa |
North Atlantic Treaty Organization | NATO or Nato |
Organization of American States | OAS |
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization | SEATO |
Securities and Exchange Commission | SEC |
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | USSR |
United Nations Children's Fund | UNICEF or Unicef |
United Kingdom | UK |
United Nations (Organization) | UN or UNO |
United States | US or U.S. (more common in AmEng) |
United States of America | USA |
United States Army | USA |
United States Air Force | USAF |
United States Coast Guard | USCG |
United States Marine Corps | USMC |
United States Navy | USN |
World Health Organization | WHO |
Young Men’s Christian Association | YMCA |
Young Women’s Christian Association | YWCA |
Other | |
amplitude modulation | AM |
absent without leave | AWOL |
frequency modulation | FM |
Gross National Product | GNP |
Revelation | Rev. |
Things to avoid
- The U.S. postal codes, such as TX for Texas, should not be used to stand in for their states in normal text.
- Mt. (and the British Mt) should not be used. Mount or Mountain should be spelled out in most situations. Exceptions may be made for official names specified by national name authorities and registered trademarks.
- Editors should strongly consider spelling out the abbreviation the first time it is used. For example, "Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is a restaurant. KFC serves chicken"