Abbreviation is the short form of some words and expressions. It is usually formed by the initial letters and ends with a period. It must be read in full, that is, the abbreviation "cia." should be read as “company”.
List of abbreviations
Below is an alphabetical list of the most commonly used abbreviations.
Abbreviations with A
| THE. | author |
|---|---|
| AA. | authors |
| apr. | abbreviation and april |
| abbr. | abbreviation, abbreviated, abbreviated and abbreviation |
| B.C. | year Christi, in the Christian era and in the year of Christ |
| The. Ç. | before Christ |
| B.C | to care(s) |
| B.C | to care |
| acad. | academy and academic |
| AD | awaiting approval, year domini, in the Christian era and in the year of the Lord |
| adj. | adjective |
| administration | management |
| aeron. | aeronautics |
| ag., ag.to or aug. | August |
| ag. or agricultural. | agriculture |
| Al. | mall (toponymically) |
| alf. | alphabetic, alphabet and ensign |
| alg. | algebra |
| ALM. or beyond. | admiral |
| am. | altitude |
| alv. | license and masonry |
| a.m. | ante meridem, before midday |
| anat. | anatomy |
| ap. or apart. | apartment |
| arc. or archaic. | archaic |
| arith. or arithm. | arithmetic |
| arch. | archeology |
| architecture | architect |
| art. | article, artillery, artillery and artistic |
| ass.ª | advice |
| bake. or assembly | assembly |
| assist. | assistance and assistant |
| assoc. | Association |
| astr. | astronomy |
| att. | unstressed and atom |
| atm. | atmosphere |
| at.you | Regards |
| aum. | augmentative |
| aut., auto or auto. | motorsport and automobile |
| aux. | assistant |
| Av. | avenue (toponymically) |
| av. or aven. | Avenue |
Abbreviations with B
| Pub. | baron |
|---|---|
| b.-art. or b.-arts | fine Arts |
| Bel, Bel, | bachelor, bachelors |
| bibliography | biblionym, bibliography, bibliographic and library |
| bibliog., bibliogr. or bilog. | bibliography |
| library | library and library |
| biophysicists. | biophysics |
| biograph. | biography |
| biol. | biology |
| bioq. or biochemist. | biochemistry |
| bishop or bishop. | bishopric |
| B.o | alley (toponymically) |
| pump | firefighters |
| bot. | botany |
| br., bras. or Brazil. | Brazilian |
| Brig., Brig. or Brig. | Chocolat Ball |
| Brit. | British |
| btl. | battalion |
| bur. or bureau. | bureaucracy |
Abbreviations with C
| Ç. | code |
|---|---|
| ç. | center |
| ç/ | com, account (commercially) |
| here | open account |
| cc | according |
| c/c | checking account |
| C.-adm. or c.-alm. | rear admiral |
| cap., cap., cap. or capt. | captain |
| Cap. or chap. | chapter |
| caps. | chapters |
| C.el, C.el | colonel |
| Company or Co | company |
| science | Sciences) |
| circle | circle |
| cit. | quote, quoted, quoted, quoted (neutral), citita, citation and citatus |
| climate or climatol. | climatology |
| col. | collection |
| with. | commander, commander, commercial, commerce, common, commune and communism |
| com., comte or comte. | commander |
| comp. | company (militarily) |
| full | complement |
| cons., cons.º, consel. or advice. | adviser |
| Const. or const. | constitution |
| const. or build. | construction |
| cont. or accounting | accounting |
| waistband. | cosine |
| cp. | compare, confront and collate |
| credit | credit |
| cron or chronol. | chronology |
| Box or box | box |
Abbreviations with D
| D. | worthy, district, gift, among others |
|---|---|
| D., D., D. or D.ª | owner |
| D.C. or d. Ç | after Christ |
| DD. | dignified, districts |
| dec. or decr. | decree |
| demog. or demographic | demography |
| Dept. | congressperson |
| dep., dep | department, departments |
| des. or develop. | design |
| discount | discount |
| ten. or tenth | December |
| dec. | dictionary |
| dipl. | University Degree |
| doc., docs. | document, documents |
| Dr., Drs. | doctor, doctors |
| Dr., Dr. or Dr., Dr. | doctor, doctors |
Abbreviations with E
| AND. or e. | state |
|---|---|
| E., EE. | editor, editors |
| E.C. | was christian |
| e.c.f. | it's a faithful copy |
| ED | waiting deferment |
| ed. | edition |
| ed. or building | building |
| ed. or education | education |
| e.g. | example gratia, for example |
| elem. | element |
| electronic | electricity |
| electron. | electronics |
| IN. | in hands) |
| Em.ª | Eminence |
| Pack., pack. or Emb.or | Ambassador |
| embr. or embryol. | embryology |
| eng. | engineer (a) |
| enol. | oenology |
| Esc. | school |
| special | spanish, special, species and spiritism |
| equity | horsemanship |
| E.R. | wait for answer |
| Est. | road (toponymically) |
| est. | season, state(s), stanza(s) (from poem), shelf(s), aesthetics and stanza(s) |
| etc. | et cetera, etcetera |
| ex. | copy(s), example(s), eg eg and army |
| Ex. | Excellence |
| Your Honor | Your Excellency |
Abbreviations with F
| F. | so and so |
|---|---|
| f. | female, leaf, folio, form(s), formation, strong and phrase |
| fab. | factory |
| fac. | college |
| farm. | pharmacist and pharmacy |
| fed. | federation and federal |
| fed. or stink. | federation |
| phenomenon | phenomenon |
| Feb. or Feb. | February |
| ff. | leaves and folios |
| phyla. | philosophy |
| fin. | final and finance(s) |
| tax | tax and taxation |
| Fl. | flora |
| folks or folkl. | folklore |
| for. | forensic |
| form. | form |
| photo or photo. | photography |
| Fr. | Friar |
| pss. | facsimiles |
| fund. | foundation |
Abbreviations with G
| g. | gender and grade(s) |
|---|---|
| General, Gen. or gen. | General |
| gar. | mine |
| g.de | great |
| gen. or general. | genealogy |
| geo., geog. or geor. | geography |
| gen. | general |
| germ. | Germanic |
| gloss. | glossary |
| G.M., g.m. or g.-m, | naval guard |
| government | governor, governor and government |
| G/P | gains and losses |
| gr. | free, degree(s), greek |
| graphic | graphic |
| record | engraving |
Abbreviations with H
| H. | men |
|---|---|
| heb. | Hebrew and Hebrew |
| her., heral. or herald. | heraldry |
| inherit | heir |
| hydr. or hydraulic. | hydraulic |
| hygiene | hygiene |
| hip. | equestrian, hypothetical and hypothetical |
| history | story |
| humor. | humorous |
Abbreviations with I
| I. or igr. | church |
|---|---|
| ib. | ibero and ibidem, in the same place |
| id. | idem, the same |
| Il.ma(o) | illustrious, illustrious |
| immigrant | immigration |
| press | |
| ind. | index and indium |
| ind. or industry | industry |
| information | information |
Abbreviations with J
| Jan. | January |
|---|---|
| john | newspaper and journalism |
| Jr. | junior, junior |
| jud. | jewish, judaism and jew |
| July | July |
| Jun. | June |
| Jur. | legal and jurisprudence |
| juris., juris., jurisp. or jurisprudence | jurisprudence |
| just. thousand. | military justice |
| J.z | judge |
Abbreviations with L
| L. | broad (toponymically) |
|---|---|
| l. | letter(s) (commercially) |
| L., l, l.º, lib., liv. or free. | book |
| lab. or laboratory | laboratory |
| launched | launch |
| width | width |
| lat. | latin, latinism, latin and latitude |
| L.da | licensed and limited |
| L.do or L.do | licensed |
| leg. | legislation, legislation and league |
| leg. or legislation | legislation |
Abbreviations with M
| m. | more, male, month and months |
|---|---|
| m/ | my(s), mine(s) |
| Mother | master |
| mother | mine |
| M. or world | County |
| mai. | May |
| Maj. or maj. | major |
| capital letters | uppercase |
| Mal, Mal. or bad. | marshal |
| sea. | march and navy |
| sea. or m.c. | March |
| mark. | marketing |
| mat. or kill. | math |
| Me | mother and master |
| mec. | mechanics (science) |
| mechanical | mechanics (machinery) |
| av. | medicine |
| avg. | doctor |
| avg. vet | veterinarian |
| memo. or memor. | memo |
| ms. | monthly |
| met., metal. or metallur. | metallurgy |
| met. or meteor. | meteorology |
| thousand. | military and millennium |
| miner. | mining and mineralogy |
| mit. or mitol. | mythology |
| Your Honor | Your Honor |
| Mme, M.me or Mme | madam |
| mMin. | minister |
| mob. | furniture |
| mod. | moderate, moderately, modern, modernism, modern, fashion and mode |
| currency. | coins |
| mon., monog. or monogram. | monography |
| Mgr. or Mgr. | monsignor |
| mor. | morals and moralism |
| morph. or morphol. | morphology |
| m/p | months of term (commercially) |
| m.to (a) | a lot, a lot |
| mus. | museology and museum |
| music. | song |
Abbreviations with N
| n. | neutral, name and number(s) |
|---|---|
| No. of D. | management note |
| No. of E. | editor's note |
| No. to give. | essay note |
| No. of the | author's note |
| No. of the D. | director's note |
| No. of the E. | editor's note |
| No. of the T. | translator's note |
| nac. | national, nationalism |
| naut. | nautical |
| naz. | Nazism |
| neol. | neologism |
| N.S. | Our Lord |
| N.Mrs. | Our Lady |
| Nov. or new | November |
| NT | New Testament and translator's note |
| on one. | numeral |
| on one. or no. | number |
Abbreviations with O
| O/ | order (commercially) |
|---|---|
| ob. | construction) |
| obs. | Note |
| oc. or ocid. | western |
| odont. or odontol. | dentistry |
| of. | offers (m), official and official |
| oft., ophthalm. or ophthalmol. | ophthalmology |
| olig. | oligarchy |
| opt. | optics |
| or. or origin. | origin |
| ord. | order |
| org. or organ. | organization |
| orth. or orthogr. | orthography |
| out. or other | October |
Abbreviations with P
| P. | next (commercially) |
|---|---|
| p.a or p/ | for |
| p., p. or p. | page |
| P, Pe or P.e | priest |
| P.B. | gross weight |
| Praça. | package(s) |
| Praça. | parts) |
| Praça. or piece. | piece(s), piece |
| pal. | words) |
| pals. | words |
| pair. | paraense, paronym and part |
| pat. or pathol. | pathology |
| P.D. | asks for approval |
| profile | Perfect |
| e.g. | for example |
| P. ext. or abbr. | in full or abbreviated |
| p. | paid and paid |
| Ph.D. | Philosophie Doctor, doctor of philosophy, doctor of philosophy |
| LP | net weight |
| pl. | plural form |
| pm | post meridem, after noon and post mortem, After death |
| poet. | poetic and poetic |
| in. | polish, inch(s) (measurement) and polish |
| policy | politics and politics |
| port. | Portuguese and Portugueseism |
| p.p. | by proxy and next past |
| because | why |
| Pr. | Shepherd |
| President, President, President or president | president |
| proc. | process, procedural, power of attorney and attorney |
| product | production |
| Prof. or prof. | teacher |
| Teacher, teacher | teacher |
| professors or professors | teachers |
| Profs. or profs. | teachers |
| pron. | pronoun, pronominally and pronominally |
| PS | post scriptum, post writing |
| psycho. or psican. | psychoanalysis |
| psycho. or psychol. | psychology |
| PT | Portugal |
| en | Score |
Abbreviations with Q
| q or q. | what |
|---|---|
| q.b. | enough amount (in medical prescriptions), how much is enough (in cooking recipes) |
| q.do | When |
| Q.G. or Q.-G. | headquarters |
| q.ta | how much |
| q.to | how much |
| fourth. | block |
| quest. | quiz |
| chem. | chemistry |
| fifteen. | biweekly |
Abbreviations with R
| A. | street (toponymically) |
|---|---|
| ref. | reference, referent, reformed and reformism |
| reg. or rg. | record |
| rel. or report | report |
| rel. or reconnect. | religion |
| rem.te | sender |
| rep. or republic. | Republic |
| report | report |
| res. | residence |
| tax or retor. | rhetoric |
| rev. | magazine |
| Rev.mo | Most Reverend |
| rod. | Highway |
| R.S.V.P | répondez, s’il vous plait, answer, please |
| rus. or russ. | Russian |
Abbreviations with S
| S. | Santa, Santo, São, Sul, among others |
|---|---|
| SA | joint stock company and His Highness |
| Sergeant | Sergeant |
| s.d. or s/d | no date |
| sec. or secr. | secretary and secretary |
| century | century |
| centuries | centuries |
| Mon., Mon. or ss | following |
| without. | week(s), semantics, similar(s), semester(s), seminar and semitic |
| without. or semin. | seminar |
| Your Honor | Your Eminence |
| Yours | Your Eminences |
| service | service |
| Sept., or Sept.o | September |
| His Excellency | Your Excellency |
| Your Excellency | Your Excellencies |
| Yes B. | symbol |
| Mrs. or Mrs. | Lady |
| ONLY. | South-west |
| Company | society (commercially) |
| soc. | society |
| soc. or sociol. | sociology |
| Mr. | Mr |
| Mr.res, Mr.es, Mr.es or Messrs. | Sirs |
| S.Rev.ma | Your Most Reverend |
| Miss, Miss or Miss | miss |
| S.S. or S.S.a | your ladyship |
| S.S.as. | your ladies |
| SS.Rev.mas | Your Most Reverends |
| sub. | subjunctive and suburb |
| Suc. | successor(s) (commercially) |
| surr. or surreal. | surrealism |
Abbreviations with T
| T. | tower |
|---|---|
| T. or Trav. | platter (toponymically) |
| Also. | also |
| teat. or theater | theater |
| tech. or tech. | technique |
| tech., tech. or technology | technology |
| tel., tel. or phone | telephone |
| Ten., ten., T.te or t.te | lieutenant |
| theol. | theology |
| therapy or therapeutic. | therapy |
| tes. | treasurer |
| type or typgr. | typography |
| title | title |
| topography or topgr. | topography |
| trans. | translation and translated |
| transp. | transport |
| wheat or trigon. | trigonometry |
| trim. | quarter(s) |
| trop. | tropical |
| tur. or tourism. | tourism |
Abbreviations with U
| huh. | external use |
|---|---|
| u. and c. | uses and customs |
| u.i. | intern use |
| un. | unity |
| un. or unif. | uniform |
| univ, | universal |
| university or univers. | University |
| urb. | urban |
| urb. or urban. | urban planner |
| urol. | urology |
| urug. | Uruguayan |
| us. | used (s), used |
| useful. or util. | utility |
| useful. or utility | utilitarianism |
| utop. | utopianism |
Abbreviations with V
| V. | village |
|---|---|
| V. or V. | you |
| GO. | Your Highness |
| Go | widow |
| VV.AA. | Your Highnesses |
| V.-Adm. or v.-alm. | vice admiral |
| V.E.ma. | Your Eminence |
| V.E.but | Your Eminences |
| vet or veter. | veterinary |
| Your Excellency(s) | Your Excellency(s) |
| e.g. | verbi gratia, for example |
| vin. or vinic. | winery |
| V.M. | Your Majesty |
| you. | vocabulary, vocabulary, vocalism and vocative |
| vol. | volume |
| vols. | volumes |
| V.Rev.ma(s) | Your Most Reverend(s) |
| V.S. | Your Holiness |
| vs. | versus |
| V.S. or V.S.a | your lordship |
| V.S.as, VV.S.as or VV.SS. | your ladies |
| aka | vulgarly |
| VV.MM. | Your Majesty |
Abbreviations with W
| WC | water closet, Restroom |
|---|
Abbreviations with X
| xenof. | xenophobia |
|---|---|
| xerog. or xerogr. | xerography |
Abbreviations with Z
| zoo. | zoology |
|---|---|
| zoot. or zootec. | zootechnics |
Rules for abbreviations
Today, as a result of the rush of everyday life, many people abbreviate words to speed up their communication. Some of them, so used, are now assumed to be correct, but in fact, not all are accepted grammatically.
Well, what we really care about is showing what is right and there are rules for that. Are we going to them?
Word abbreviations are made as follows:
1. First syllable + first letter of the second syllable (if consonant) + period.
Examples:
- bot. (good-ta-ni-ca)
- gloss. (gloss-sario)
- fourth. (fourth-they)
Note: If the first letter of the second syllable is a vowel, we must consider the following letters up to the first consonant.
Examples:
- bioq. (bi-O-whatwow)
- capital letters (more-úy-hea)
- neol. (huh-O-thereo-gis-mo)
2. First syllable + the first two letters of the second syllable (if both are consonants) + period.
Examples:
- ag. (The-gri-fu-tu-ra)
- astr. (at-tro-no-mi-a)
- built. (cons-tru-tion)
3. If the word contains an accent on the first syllable or hyphen, they must be part of the abbreviation.
Examples:
- c.-adm. (Rear Admiral)
- music. (song)
- tech. (technique)
4. There are abbreviations that arise from the suppression of letters.
Examples:
- box (box)
- General (general)
- L.do or Lic.do (licensed)
5. There are, however, abbreviations that do not follow any of the above rules. Not all, for example, have an abbreviated period and some are written with an initial capital letter.
Examples:
- E.M. (in hand(s))
- vs. (versus)
- VV.AA. (Your Highnesses)
Finally, it's important to remember that if a sentence ends with an abbreviation, you shouldn't insert a full stop anymore.
Examples:
- It is written in N. of E.
- We have been waiting for him for a century.
- Visitors have already arrived for VV.SS.
Abbreviation and abbreviation: is there a difference?
Abbreviation and abbreviation are shortened forms of words, but they are not the same thing.
The abbreviation is a resource of writing and abbreviation is a resource of speech.
We have already seen that, as a general rule, abbreviations are formed from the first syllable + first letter of the second syllable + period.
The same is not true for abbreviations, where there are no cuts in the second syllable. Besides, they don't even have a period at the end.
Some we use so often that we don't even remember they are abbreviations.
Examples of abbreviations:
- photo - photography
- motorcycle - motorcycle
- car - car
And the acronyms and symbols?
Acronyms are the initial letters of words.
Examples:
- CPF (Register of Natural Persons
- USA - United States of America
- IBGE - Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
Symbols, in turn, are short forms that represent concepts and are recognized internationally. There are many symbols with the letters K and Y.
Examples:
- kg - kilogram(s)
- km - kilometer(s)
- kW - kilowatt(s)
- N - natural numbers
- W - watt(s)
- y - second unknown (in math)
- Y - yttrium, yttrium
- Yb ytterbium, ytterbium
Read too:
- Acronyms
- Acronyms of Brazilian States
- abbreviation of hours