LIST OF COMMONLY USED ABBREVIATIONS
IN EVERYDAY CONVERSATION
Written and verbal communication often includes these abbreviations:
- R.S.V.P. – This acronym means “Répondez s’il vous plait,” French for “respond, if you please.” It is often used on invitations to parties and special events, and is intended (as it says) to be responded to with a “yes, we will attend,” or “no, we will not.”
- P.S. – Means “post script.” At the end of a letter, people will often include a P.S. to include an extra thought that was intended to be included in the letter, but forgotten. Using a P.S. was more common in typewritten letters, when you couldn’t go back and add a sentence in the body of a letter.
- A.S.A.P. – “As soon as possible,” used when encouraging someone to respond to a request without delay.
- E.T.A. – This acronym means “estimated time of arrival,” and is used as a guess for when one expects to arrive while traveling.
- B.Y.O.B. – “Bring your own bottle” is used for parties where guests are expected to bring their own beverages.
- D.I.Y. – This acronym stands for “do it yourself,” which means creating something on your own. It is often used for crafts and home repairs.
STATES OF THE UNITED STATES
Perhaps the most commonly used abbreviations used in the U.S. are found in the names of the 50 states:
- Alabama – AL
- Alaska – AK
- Arizona – AZ
- Arkansas – AR
- California – CA
- Colorado – CO
- Connecticut – CT
- Delaware – DE
- Florida – FL
- Georgia – GA
- Hawaii – HI
- Idaho – ID
- Illinois – IL
- Indiana – IN
- Iowa – IA
- Kansas – KS
- Kentucky – KY
- Louisiana – LA
- Maine – ME
- Maryland – MD
- Massachusetts – MA
- Michigan – MI
- Minnesota – MN
- Mississippi – MS
- Missouri – MO
- Montana – MT
- Nebraska – NE
- Nevada – NV
- New Hampshire – NH
- New Jersey – NJ
- New Mexico – NM
- New York – NY
- North Carolina – NC
- North Dakota – ND
- Ohio – OH
- Oklahoma – OK
- Oregon – OR
- Pennsylvania – PA
- Rhode Island – RI
- South Carolina – SC
- South Dakota – SD
- Tennessee – TN
- Texas – TX
- Utah -UT
- Vermont – VT
- Virginia – VA
- Washington – WA
- West Virginia – WV
- Wisconsin – WI
- Wyoming – WY
ABBREVIATIONS FOR COOKING AND BAKING
Abbreviations are also necessary for measurements for cooking and baking – after all, your cake won’t come out very well if you don’t know the difference between:
- tsp or t – teaspoon/teaspoons
- tbs, tbsp or T – tablespoon/tablespoons
- c – cup/cups
- gal – gallon
- lb – pound/pounds
- pt – pint
- qt – quart
MAP LOCATIONS
If you want to find your way around, you better know location abbreviations such as:
- Ave – avenue
- Blvd – boulevard
- Ln – lane
- Rd – road
- St – street
EDUCATIONAL DEGREES AND JOB TITLES
Abbreviations often show up in describing educational degrees and job titles. For example:
- BA – Bachelor of Arts
- BS – Bachelor of Science
- MA – Master of Arts
- M.PHIL or MPHIL – Master of Philosophy
- JD – Juris Doctor
- DC – Doctor of Chiropractic
- PA – Personal Assistant
- MD – Managing Director
- VP – Vice President
- SVP – Senior Vice President
- EVP – Executive Vice President
- CMO – Chief Marketing Officer
- CFO – Chief Financial Officer
- CEO – Chief Executive Officer
INTERNET CHAT
The advent of the Internet has brought about a whole new range of abbreviations we may use in our daily life. Among these abbreviations, online chat has evolved and created a language of its own, made up almost entirely of abbreviations. For example:
- ACE – a cool experience
- AD – awesome dude
- AFAIK – as far as I know
- AFK – away from keyboard
- ANI – age not important
- BRB – be right back
- CUL – see you later
- CWYL – chat with you later
- IIRC – if I recall/remember correctly
- IQ – ignorance quotient
- LOL – laugh-out-loud
- NP – no problem
- ROFL – rolling on the floor laughing
- TY – thank you
- WC – wrong conversation
These are just a handful of innumerable abbreviations that are used in chat language.
ALPHABET AGENCIES
During the Great Depression, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt created a number of agencies to stimulate job growth in the United States. Known as “alphabet agencies,” these are some of the most famous abbreviations today.
- AAA – The Agricultural Adjustment Act. This act was created in 1933 to compensate farmers for not planting crops as a way to increase the demand for certain agricultural products and raise prices. By 1936, the Supreme Court ruled that the act was to be voided.
- CCC – The Civilian Conservation Corps. Single men between the ages of 18 and 25 were selected to form this corps, which would work on conserving the wildlife and national preservation areas, in addition to planting trees and fighting erosion.
- CWA – The Civil Works Administration. Four million people were employed by the CWA to work in renovation and construction jobs such as building repair, road building, and other infrastructural work. However, some of the jobs provided by the CWA were considered useless, such as employing people to rake leaves.
- FDIC – The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Since banks were widely distrusted after the many bank failures during the depression, this alphabet agency was created to encourage public confidence in saving money in banks by insuring customers against losses of up to $5,000 if the bank would happen to fail.
- FHA – The Federal Housing Administration. This organization was created to help people secure loans to buy houses.
- NRA – The National Recovery Administration. In 1933, Roosevelt helped create the NRA was an attempt to aid deflation and encourage market competition, in order to restore the economy. Unfortunately, the administration did not stimulate industrial production, although investor and consumer confidence were restored.
- SSA – The Social Security Administration. The Social Security Act, administered by the Social Security Administration, created a national pension for retired people as well as unemployment insurance and government aid for single mothers, children, and handicapped persons. The SSA exists even today.
UNDERSTANDING LATIN-BASED ABBREVIATIONS
Looking at Latin, the root of the English language, is a good way to decipher abbreviations. The most popular abbreviations that we use in our day to day life are derived from this ancient language. For example:
- AM, which we use to denote morning, is an abbreviation for ante meridian, and PM stands for post meridian.
- The era in which we live, AD, is actually an abbreviation for Anno Domini, or “The Year of Our Lord.”
Latin has also gifted us with other abbreviations that we use so frequently that at times, we seem to forget what they stand for such as:
- When someone quotes an example and uses the abbreviation e.g. to express it, it stands for exampli gratia, which means, “example given.”
- Also, i.e., another equally popular abbreviation we use in daily life, stands for id est, meaning, “that is.”
- “Etc”, which is used also used often, is short for etcetera, which means “and other things.”
- Another popular Latin abbreviation we use in our daily life is “viz”, which stands for videlicet, meaning “namely.”
- Other popular Latin abbreviations include n.b which is written at the end of a communication. It stands for nota bene, which means “take notice,” or “note well.”
Abbreviations have become an inalienable part of our lives. In other words, almost anything you want to do will require you to know an abbreviation or two.
IMPORTANT EDUCATION ABBREVIATIONS
AICTE | All India Council for Technical Education. |
ALISE | Association for Library and Information Science Education. |
APA | American Psychological Association. |
B.A | Bachelor of Arts. |
B.A.E | Bachelor of Arts in Education. |
B.Ag | Bachelor of Agriculture. |
B.A.M | Bachelor of Applied Mathematics. |
B.Arch | Bachelor of Architecture. |
B.B.A | Bachelor of Business Administration. |
B.C.E | Bachelor of Civil Engineering. |
B.Ch.E | Bachelor of Chemical Engineering. |
BCI | Bar Council of India. |
B.C.L | Bachelor of Canon Law. |
B.D | Bachelor of Divinity. |
B.E | Bachelor of Education or Bachelor of Engineering. |
B.E.E | Bachelor of Electrical Engineering. |
B.F | Bachelor of Forestry. |
B.F.A | Bachelor of Fine Arts. |
B.J | Bachelor of Journalism. |
B.L.S | Bachelor of Liberal Studies or Bachelor of Library Science. |
B.Lit | Bachelor of Literature. |
B.Litt | Bachelor of Letters. |
B.M | Bachelor of Medicine or Bachelor of Music. |
B.M.S | Bachelor of Marine Science. |
BMS | Bachelor of Management Studies. |
B.N | Bachelor of Nursing. |
B.Pharm | Bachelor of Pharmacy. |
B.R.E | Bachelor of Religious Education. |
B.S | Bachelor of Science. |
B.S.Ed | Bachelor of Science in Education. |
B.Tech | Bachelor of Technology. |
CBSE | Central Board of Secondary Education. |
CDC | Curriculum Development Committee. |
C.E | Civil Engineer. |
CEP | Continuing Education Programme. |
Ch.E | Chemical Engineer. |
CIET | Central Institute of Educational Technology. |
CLISc | Certificate Course in Library and Information Science. |
CLS | Certificate in Library Science. |
CSIR | Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. |
CV | Curriculum Vitae. |
D.A | Doctor of Arts. |
D.A.S | Doctor of Applied Science. |
D.B.A | Doctor of Business Administration. |
D.C | Doctor of Chiropractic. |
D.D | Doctor of Divinity. |
DEAF | Depositors Education Awareness Fund. |
D.D.S | Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Science. |
D.Ed | Doctor of Education. |
DEC | Distance Education Council. |
DESIDOC | Defense Scientific Information and Documentation Center. |
D.LL | Doctor of Laws. |
DLSc | Diploma in Library Science. |
DLIS | Department of Library and Information Science. |
D.J | Doctor of Laws. |
D.J.S | Doctor of Juristic Science. |
D.L.H | Doctor of Humane Letters. |
D.L.S | Doctor of Library Science. |
D.M.D | Doctor of Dental Medicine. |
D.O | Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine. |
D.M.S | Doctor of Medical Science. |
D.P.A | Doctor of Public Administration. |
D.P.H | Doctor of Public Health. |
DRTC | Documentation Research and Training Center. |
D.R.E | Doctor of Religious Education. |
D.S.W | Doctor of Social Welfare or Doctor of Social Work. |
D.Sc | Doctor of Science. |
D.V.M | Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. |
Ed.D | Doctor of Education. |
Ed.S | Education Specialist. |
EDRS | Education Document Retrieval Service. |
E.E | Electrical Engineer. |
E.M | Engineer of Mines. |
E.Met | Engineer of Metallurgy. |
ERIC | Educational Resources Information Center. |
ETS | Educational Testing Service. |
FERPA | Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. |
GATE | Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering. |
GIAC | Global Initiative for Academic Networks. |
GMAT | Graduate Management Admission Test. |
GPA | Grade Point Average. |
GRE | Graduate Record Examinations. |
HSC | Higher Secondary Certificate. |
IASLIC | Indian Association of Special Libraries and Information Centers. |
IATLIS | Indian Association of Teachers in Library and Information Science. |
ICAC | International Council of Adult Education. |
ICSE | Indian Certificate of Secondary Education. |
ICSSR | Indian Council of Social Science Research. |
ICT | Information and Communication Technology. |
I.E | Industrial Engineer or Industrial Engineering. |
IES | Institute of Educational Sciences. |
IES | Indian Engineering Services. |
IFLA | International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions. |
IIT | Indian Institute of Technology. |
ILA | Indian Library Association. |
INSDOC | Indian National Scientific Documentation Center. |
IQ | Intelligence Quotient. |
ISC | Indian School Certificate. |
ISEET | Indian Science Engineering Eligibility Test. |
LA | Learning Assistance. |
LAC | Learning Assistance Center. |
LASS | Learning Assistance Support System. |
LASSI | Learning & Study Strategies Inventory. |
LCLC | Learning Center Leadership Certification. |
LEP | Limited English Proficient. |
LMS | Learning Management System. |
LSC | Learning Support Center. |
LSCHE | Learning Support Centers in Higher Education. |
LCSH | Library of Congress Subject Heading. |
LIS | Library and Information Science. |
LKG | Lower Kinder Garten. |
LLB | Bachelor of Laws. |
M.LL | Master of Laws. |
M.A | Master of Arts. |
M.Aero.E | Master of Aeronautical Engineering. |
MAT | Management Aptitude Test. |
M.B.A | Master of Business Administration. |
MBBS | Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery. |
M.C.E | Master of Christian Education or Master of Civil Engineering. |
MCI | Medical Council of India. |
M.C.S | Master of Computer Science. |
M.D | Doctor of Medicine. |
M.Div | Master of Divinity. |
M.E | Master of Engineering. |
M.Ed | Master of Education. |
M.Eng | Master of Engineering. |
M.F.A | Master of Fine Arts. |
M.H.A | Master of Hospital Administration. |
MLA | Modern Library Association. |
MLISc | Master of Library and Information Science. |
M.L.S | Master of Library Science. |
M.Litt | Master of Letters. |
M.M | Master of Music. |
M.M.E | Master of Mechanical Engineering or Master of Music Education. |
M.Mus | Master of Music. |
M.N | Master of Nursing. |
M.Phil | Master of Philosophy. |
M.R.E | Master of Religious Education. |
M.S | Master of Science. |
M.S.W | Master of Social Work. |
M.Th | Master of Theology. |
NAAC | National Assessment and Accreditation Council. |
NADE | National Association for Developmental Education. |
NCERT | National Council of Educational Research and Training. |
NASSDOC | National Social Science Documentation Center. |
NCLCA | National College Learning Center Association. |
NCTE | National Council of Teachers of English. |
NCTM | National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. |
NISOD | National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development. |
NODA | National Orientation Directors Association. |
NCHER | National Commission for Higher Education and Research. |
NCTE | National Council for Teachers Education. |
NEET | National Eligibility |
NIIT | National Institute of Information Technology. |
NISCAIR | National Institute for Science Communication and Information Resources. |
NMAT | Narsee Monjee Management Aptitude Test. |
NRC | National Reading Conference. |
Nuc.E | Nuclear Engineer. |
O.D | Doctor of Optometry. |
Pharm.D | Doctor of Pharmacy. |
Ph.B | Bachelor of Philosophy. |
Ph.D | Doctor of Philosophy. |
PGDIT | Post Graduate Diploma in Information Technology. |
PGDLAN | Post Graduate Diploma in Library Automation and Networking. |
Ph.D | Doctorate in Philosophy. |
RIE | Regional Institute of Education. |
RRRLF | Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation. |
S.B | Bachelor of Science. |
Sc.D | Doctor of Science. |
S.J.D | Doctor of Juridical Science or Doctor of the Science of Law. |
S.Sc.D | Doctor of Social Science. |
SSLC | Secondary School Leaving Certificate. |
S.T.B | Bachelor of Sacred Theology. |
S.T.D | Doctor of Sacred Theology. |
S.T.M | Master of Sacred Theology. |
Th.B | Bachelor of Theology. |
Th.D | Doctor of Theology. |
Th.M | Master of Theology. |
TGT | Trained Graduate Teacher. |
TOEFL | Test Of English as a Foreign Language. |
UGC | University Grants Commission. |
Degree | Abbreviations |
---|---|
Associate of Arts | AA or A.A. |
Brevet d’études professionnelles (France) | BEP |
Certificat d’aptitude professionnelle (France) | CAP |
Diploma of Arts | Dip.Arts |
Diploma of Language Studies | Dip.Lang.Stud. |
Diploma of Languages | Dip.Lang |
Diploma of Social Sciences | Dip.Soc.Sc. |
Diploma of Education | Dip.Ed |
Diploma of Music | Dip.Mus. |
BACHELOR’S DEGREE[EDIT]
Degree | Abbreviations |
---|---|
Bachelor of Arts | BA, B.A., AB, A.B. or B.Arts |
Bachelor of Accountancy | BAcy or B.Acy. |
Bachelor of Accounting | BAcc or B.Acc. |
Bachelor of Animal and Veterinary Bioscience | B.An.Vet.Bio.Sc. |
Bachelor of Applied Science | B.App.Sc. |
Bachelor of Architecture | BArch or B.Arch. |
Bachelor of Business Administration | BBA or B.B.A. |
Bachelor of Civil Engineering | BCE or B.C.E. |
Bachelor of Commerce | BComm or B.Comm., or BCom or B.Com. |
Bachelor of Communications | B.Comm. |
Bachelor of Dental Medicine | BDM or B.D.M. |
Bachelor of Dental Science | BDSc or B.D.Sc. |
Bachelor of Dental Surgery | BDS or B.D.S.; or BChD or B.Ch.D. |
Bachelor of Dentistry | BDent or B.Dent. |
Bachelor of Design | BDes or B.Des. |
Bachelor of Design Computing | B.Des.Comp. |
Bachelor of Design in Architecture | B.Des.Arch. |
Bachelor of Education | BEd or B.Ed. |
Bachelor of Engineering | BEng or B.Eng., or BE or B.E |
Bachelor of Electronic Commerce | BEC or B.E-COM. |
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering | BEE or B.E.E. |
Bachelor of Fine Arts | BFA or B.F.A. |
Bachelor of Health Sciences | B.Hlth.Sci |
Bachelor of Information Technology | BIT or B.I.T. |
Bachelor of International and Global Studies | BIGS or B.I.G.S. |
Bachelor of Law | LLB or LL.B. |
Bachelor of Liberal Arts and Sciences | BLAS or B.L.A.S. |
Bachelor of Library Science | BLib or B.Lib., or BLS or B.L.S. |
Bachelor of Literature | BLit or B.Lit. |
Bachelor of Mathematics | BMath or B.Math |
Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering | BME or B.M.E. |
Bachelor of Medical Science | B.Med.Sc. |
Bachelor of Medicine | MB or M.B. |
Bachelor of Music Studies | B.Mus.Studies |
Bachelor of Nursing | BN or B.N. |
Bachelor of Pharmacy | B.Pharm. |
Bachelor of Political, Economic and Social Sciences | B.P.E.S.S. |
Bachelor of Resource Economics | B.Res.Ec. |
Bachelor of Science | (US) BS or B.S.; (UK) BSc or B.Sc. |
Bachelor of Science in Nursing | BSN |
Bachelor of Socio-Legal Studies | BSLS or B.S.L.S. |
Bachelor of Surgery | BS or B.S. |
Bachelor of Veterinary Science | B.V.Sc. |
Bachelor of Visual Arts | BVA or B.V.A. |
GRADUATE
SUB-MASTER’S
MASTER’S
Degrees conferred for coursework/research after having attained a bachelor’s degree.
Degree | Abbreviations |
---|---|
Master of Arts | MA, M.A. or A.M. |
Master of Business Administration | MBA or M.B.A. |
Master of Commerce | MCom or M.Com |
Master of Divinity | MDiv or M.Div. |
Master of Education | M.Ed. |
Master of International Studies | MIS or M.I.S. |
Master of Laws | LLM or LL.M. |
Master of Library Science | MLS |
Master of Liberal Arts | MLA |
Master of Science | (US) MS or M.S.; (UK) MSc or M.Sc. |
Master of Social Work | MSW or M.S.W. |
Master of Strategic Foresight | MSF or M.S.F. |
DOCTOR’S
Generally awarded with a research project and thesis.
Degree | Abbreviations |
---|---|
Doctor of Audiology | AuD or Au.D. |
Doctor of Chiropractic | DC or D.C. |
Doctor of Dental Surgery | DDS or D.D.S. |
Doctor of Divinity | DD or D.D. |
Doctor of Education | EdD or Ed.D. |
Doctor of Jurisprudence (Juris Doctor) | JD or J.D. |
Doctor of Medical Dentistry | DMD or D.M.D. |
Doctor of Medicine | MD or M.D. |
Doctor of Naturopathy | ND or N.D. |
Doctor of Nursing Practice | DNP or D.N.P. |
Doctor of Optometry | OD or O.D. |
Doctor of Osteopathy | DO or D.O. |
Doctor of Pharmacy | PharmD or Pharm.D. |
Doctor of Philosophy | PhD, Ph.D., DPhil, D.Phil., DPh or D.Ph. |
Doctor of Physical Therapy | DPT or D.P.T. |
Doctor of Psychology | PsyD or Psy.D. |
Doctor of Science | DSc or D.Sc. |
Doctor of Veterinary Medicine | DVM or D.V.M. |