Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style

Wikipedia:Manual of Style (abbreviations)

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This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style. Editors should follow it, except where common sense and the occasional exception will improve an article. Before editing this page, please make sure that your revision reflects consensus.

Shortcuts:
WP:MOSABBR
MOS:ABBR

See Wikipedia:Shortcuts for redirects to the Wikipedia namespace.

See Wikipedia:Edit summary legend for abbreviations in edit summary boxes.

See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (abbreviations) for abbreviations in article names

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.

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Word(s)	Abbreviation
General abbreviations
abbreviation	abbr.
approximately/approximated	approx.
absent without leave	AWOL
amplitude modulation	AM
Brothers	Bros. (Largely British; should only be used in the names of companies that actually use it.)
circa ("around", "about", "approximately")	ca., c.
Company	Co.
confer ("compare", "consult")	cf.
department	dept. or dept
district	dist.
division	div.
edition/editor (editions/editors)	ed. (eds.)
established (also estimated)	est.
et alii ("and others")	et al.
et cetera ("and so forth")	etc. or etc. (&c. is obsolete)
exempli gratia ("for example")	e.g.
frequency modulation	FM
gross national product/gross domestic product	GNP/GDP
Her Majesty's Ship	HMS
id est ("that is"; "in other words")	i.e.
Limited	Ltd.
manufacturer/manufactory (manufacturing)	mfr. (mfg.)
not applicable	NA
personal computer	PC
publisher (published)	pub. (pubd.)
public limited company	plc
Répondez s'il-vous-plaît ("respond please")	RSVP
revised	rev.
United States Ship	USS
versus ("against", "in constrast to")	v (legal), vs. or vs (sports)
videlicet ("that is to say"; "namely")	viz. (link only once)
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. or Corp
Incorporated	Inc. or Inc
Institute/Institution	Inst.
Limited	Ltd. or Ltd
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 or B.S., BSc or B.Sc.
Captain	Capt. or Capt
Colonel	Col. or Col
Commander	Cmdr., Cdr., 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., Mons. or Msgr
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 Union	EU
Inland Revenue	IR
Internal Revenue Service	IRS
International Atomic Energy Agency	IAEA
National Aeronautics and Space Administration	NASA
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People	NAACP
North Atlantic Treaty Organization	NATO
Organization of American States	OAS
Royal Air Force	RAF
Royal Navy	RN
Securities and Exchange Commission	SEC
Southeast Asia Treaty Organization	SEATO
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics	USSR
United Kingdom	UK
United Nations Children's Fund	UNICEF
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization	UNESCO
United Nations (Organization)	UN (UNO)
United States	US (U.S. more common in AmE)
United States Air Force	USAF
United States Army	USA
United States Coast Guard	USCG
United States Marine Corps	USMC
United States Navy	USN
United States of America	USA (use US if appropriate)
World Health Organization	WHO
Young Men’s Christian Association	YMCA
Young Women’s Christian Association	YWCA

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. (and the British Mt) should not be used. Mount or Mountain should be spelled out in most situations. Exceptions are made for official names and registered trademarks. (Similarly "Saint" vs "St." or "St" in placenames should depend upon their 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 Propery Organization (WIPO) is heavily involved with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). WIPO's long-standing ICANN role..."

Special considerations

See also