Common & Uncommon Abbreviations for Research Papers

CONTENTS

  1. Common Abbreviations
  2. Abbreviations of Degrees
  3. Links

Some Common Abbreviations

abbr. – abbreviation, abbreviated abr. – abridged, abridgment
acad. – academic, academy adj. – adjective, adjourned, adjustment
adm. – administration, admiral adv. – adverb
agr. / agri. / agric. – agricultural, agriculture anon. – anonymous
app. – appended, appendix, appointed approx. – approximately
assn. – association b. – base, bass, bat, battery, bay, book, born, brother
bact. – bacteria, bacteriology bap. – baptized
bib. – Bible, biblical bibliog. – bibliographer, bibliography, bibliographic
biog. – biographer, biography, biographical biol. – biology
bk. – bank, block, book bkg. – banking
bldg. – building blvd. – boulevard
bot. – botanical, botany bp. – bishop
brig. – brigade, brigadier brig. gen. – brigadier general
bro. – brother bur. – bureaus
c.a. – chartered accountant, chief accountant, commercial agent, consular agent, controller of accounts cal. – calendar, caliber, small calorie
cap. – capital, capitalize capt. – captain
cath. – cathedral cc / cc. / c.c. – cubic centimeters
cent. – centigrade, centimeter, central, century cf. –  Latin confer = compare
ch. – chaplain, chapter, check (chess), chief, child, children, Latin chirurgia = surgery, church chap. – chaplain, chapter
chem. – chemical, chemist, chemistry chm. – chairman, checkmate (chess)
chron. – chronology cir. /circ. – circular, Latin circa = about
cit. – citation, cited, citizen civ. – civil, civilian
clk. – clerk cm / cm. – centimeter(s)
co. – company, county c.o. / c/o – care of, carried over
c.o.d. – cash on delivery, collect on delivery col. – collected, collector, college, colonel, colonial, colony, column
colloq. – colloquial, colloquialism com. – comedy, command, commandant, commerce, commercial, commission(er), committee, commodore, common, communication, community
comdr. – commander comr. – commissioner
comp. – compiler, compiled by con. – concerto, consolidated, consul
cond. – conductor, conducted by conf. – conference
cong. – congress consol. – consolidated
constr. – construction cont. – containing, contents, continent, continental, continue, continued
cont. / contd. – continued corp. – corporal, corporation
cp. – candlepower, compare cpl. – corporal
cr. – credit, creditor, creek crit. – criticism
ct. – carat, cent, court cu. – cubic
cwt. – hundredweight d. – dam (pedigrees), date, daughter, day(s), dead, democrat, density, diameter, died
d. – pence, penny dec. – deceased, declaration, declension, declination, decrease, Italian deprescendo = decreasing in loudness (music),
def. – definition, definite deg. – degree(s)
dep. – department, departure, deposit, depot, deputy dept. – department, deputy
der. / deriv. – derivation, derivative diag. – diagram
dial. – dialect dict. – dictionary
dim. – Italian diminuendo = diminishing in loudness (music) dipl. – diplomat, diplomatic
dir. – director, directed by disc. – discount, discovered
dist. – distinguished, district distr. – distribution, distributed by
div. – dividend, division, divorced dm / dm. – decameter, decimeter
do. – Latin ditto = the same doc. – document
doz. – dozen dpt. – department
dr. – debit, debtor, drachma, dram d.t. – delirium tremens, double time
dup. / dupl. – duplicate dwt. – pennyweight
e / e. – erg, errors (Baseball) ea. – each
eccl. / eccles. – ecclesiastical ecol. – ecology
econ. – economic, economics, economy ed. – edited, edited by, edition, editor
e.g. –  Latin exempli gratia = for example elec. / elect. – electric, electrical, electrician, electricity
elev. – elevation emp. – emperor, empire, empress
e.m.u. – electromagnetic unit enc. – enclosed
ency. / encyc. / encycl. – encyclopedia eng. – engineer, engineering, engraved
entom. / entomol. – entomologist, entomology esp. – especially
est. – established, estimate et al. – Latin et alibi = and elsewhere,
Latin et alii, et aliae = and others
etc. –  Latin et cetera = and so forth et seq. – Latin et sequens = and the following, Latin et sequentes or seqentia = and those that follow
ex. – examined, example exch. – exchange, exchequer
exec. – executive, executor ex lib. – Latin ex libris = from the books of
f – Italian forte = loud (music) f. – farad, father, farthing, fathom, feminine, fluid (ounce), folio, following, franc, frequency
fac. / fax – facsimile fed. – federal, federated, federation
fem. – female, feminine ff – Italian fortissimo = very loud (music)
ff. / fol. – folios, following fig. – figure
fin. – finance fl. – florin, flourished, fluid
fn. – footnote fr. – fragment, franc, from
ft = feet, foot ft. – fort
fwd. – foreword, foreword by g / g. / gm – gram
gal / gall. – gallon gaz. – gazette, gazetteer
gen. – gender, genera, general, genus geog. – geographer, geographical, geography
geol. – geologic, geologist, geology geom. – geometric, geometry
gloss. – glossary gov. – governor
govt. – government gr – grain(s), gram(s)
gram. – grammar, grammarian hab. corp. – Latin habeas corpus = that you have the body
her. – heraldry hist. – historian, historical, history
hort. – horticultural, horticulture hr – hour(s)
ht. – height ib. / ibid. – Latin ibidem = in the same place
id. – Latin idem = the same i.e. – Latin id est = that is
illus. – illustrator, illustration, illustrated by imp. – imperative, imperial, imports,
Latin imprimatur = let it be printed
in. – inch, inches inc. – including, income, incorporated
in loc. cit. – Latin in loco citato = in the place cited ins. – inches, insurance
inst. – instant, institute, institution intl. – international
introd. – introduction, introduced by is. – island, isle
jour. – journal jr. – junior
jud. – judicial k. – kilo, kilogram, thousand
kg – kilogram (note: no period after kg) kilo. – kilogram, kilometer
km – kilometer (note: no period after km) kt. – carat
kw – kilowatt (note: no period after kw) l – liter
l, ll – line, lines lab. – laboratory
lang. – language lat. – latitude
lb – Latin libra = pound l.c. – Latin loco citato = in the place cited
lib. – liberal, library, librarian lieut. / lt. – lieutenant
lit. – literally, literary, literature ltd. – limited
lon. / long. – longitude m. – male, married, meridian, Latin
meridies
= noon, meter, mile, minute, month
mach. – machine, machinist mag. – magazine
maj. – major mas. / masc. – masculine
math. – mathematician, mathematics mdse. – merchandise
mech. – mechanical, mechanics med. – medical, medicine, medieval
mem. / memo – Latin memento = remember, memorandum mfg. – manufacturing
mfr. – manufacture, manufacturer mg / mg. / mgm – milligram
mgr. – manager mi – miles, mill (note: no period after mi)
misc. – miscellaneous ml / ml. – milliliter
mm – millimeter(s), Latin millia = thousands mo. – month(s)
mod. – moderate, modern ms. / mss. – manuscript, manuscripts
mt. / mts. – mount, mountain, mountains mus. – museum, music, musician
n / nn – note, notes n. – noun
narr. – narrator, narrated by natl. – national
nav. – naval, navigation n.b. – Latin nota bene = mark well, take notice
n.d. – no date of publication neg. – negative
no. – number non seq. – Latin non sequitur = it does not follow
n.p. – no place of publication, no publisher n. pag. – no page number
obit. – obituary obj. – object, objective
op. cit. – Latin opere citato = in the work cited orch. – orchestra, orchestrated by
orig. – original, originally  oz. – ounce (Italian abbrev. of onza)
p. / pp. – page, pages par. – paragraph, parallel
pat. /patd. – patent, patented pct. – percent
p.d. – Latin per diem = by the day pen. – peninsular
perf. – performer, performed by philos. – philosopher, philosophy
phys. – physical, physician, physicist, physics pl. – plate, plural
ppd. – postpaid, prepaid pref. – preface, preface by
prin. – principal, principle prod. – produced by, producer, production
pro tem. – Latin pro tempore = for the time being pron. – pronoun, pronunciation
pseud. – pseudonym psych. / psychol. – psychological, psychologist, psychology
pt – pint (note: no period after pt) pt. – part, payment, point, port
pub. / publ. – public, publisher, publication, published by pwt – pennyweight (note: no period after pwt)
q. – quarto, question qr. – quarter
qt – quart (note: no period after qt) qt. – quiet (slang)
qtd. – quoted ques. – question
quot. – quotation r.b.i. / rbi / RBI – run(s) batted in (Baseball)
quot. – quotation rec. – receipt, recipe, record, recorded
ref. – referee, reference, reformed reg. – regent, regiment, region, registered, registrar, regular, regulation
rel. – release rev. – review, reviewed by, revision, revised, revised by
riv. – river rpm – revolutions per minute
rps – revolutions per second rpt. – reprint, reprinted by
s. – saint, second, semi-, shilling, silver, sire, solo, son, soprano, south sc. – scene
sch. – school sci. – science, scientific, scientist
sculp / sculp. – sculptor, sculptural, sculpture sec – secant, second(s)
sec. / secy. – secretary sec. / sect. – section
ser. – series serg. / sergt. / sgt. – sergeant
[sic.] – thus in the source (exactly as quoted) sing. – singular
sol. – solicitor sp. – special, species, specific, specimen, spelling, spirit
sq. – square, sequence sub. – submarine, substitute, suburb
subj. – subject, subjective, subjunctive sup. – superior, supplement, supply, (Latin supra = above), supreme
supt. – superintendent surg. – surgeon, surgery
sym. – symbol, symphony syn. – synonym, synonymous
t. – temperature, tempo, (Latin tempore = in the time of), tenor, tense (grammar), territory, time, ton(s), town, transitive, troy (weight) tbs. / tbsp. – tablespoon
tel. – telegram, telegraph, telephone temp. – temperature, temporary
terr. – territory theol. – theologian, theological, theology
topog. – topographical, topography trans. / tr. – translated by, translation, translator
treas. – treasurer, treasury trig. / trigon. – trigonometric, trigonometry
tsp. – teaspoon twp. – township
ult. – ultimate univ. – universal, university
usu. – usually uv – ultraviolet (note: no period after uv)
v. – verb, verse, versus, Latin vide = see, voltage, von (German name) var. – variant
vb. – verb vers. – version
vet. – veteran, veterinary viz. – Latin videlicet = namely
vet. – veteran, veterinary vol. – volcano, volume
vox. pop. – Latin vox populi = voice of the people v.p. – vice president, vice principal
vs. / v. – Latin versus = against vs. / vss. – verse, verses
v.s. – Latin vide supra = see above wpm – words per minute
writ. – writer, written by wt – weight (no period after wt)
yd – yard(s) yr – year
zn = zinc  

For a complete list of Common Scholarly Abbreviations, please see Section 7.4 in the 6th edition of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers.

Abbreviations of Degrees

Note: When documenting sources using MLA style, the normal punctuation is omitted for degrees when used in parentheses, tables, works cited, footnotes, endnotes, etc. For example, B.A. is written as BA. Other abbreviations retain the periods if applicable, e.g. acad., bib., misc.

Italics = Latin

BA – Bachelor of Arts BBA – Bachelor of Business Administration
BS – Bachelor of Science DA – Doctor of Arts
EdD – Doctor of Education JD – Doctor of Law
LLB – Bachelor of Laws (legum baccalaureus) LLD – Doctor of Laws (legum doctor)
LLM – Master of Laws (legum magister) MA – Master of Arts
MBA – Master of Business Administration MD – Doctor of Medicine (medicinae doctor)
MS – Master of Science PhD – Doctor of Philosophy

Also, great post to read about US and Canada Map.

Links to Common, Uncommon, and Specialized Abbreviations

Acronym Finder. Look up acronyms, abbreviations and their meanings.

Acronym Finder
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Acronym Search. Your source for acronyms and abbreviations.

Canadian Government Abbreviations Canadian Government Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms.

Common Abbreviations for posting messages on Bulletin Boards – from BabyCentre.co.uk. Examples: AKA = Also known as, LOL = Laughing out loud, BTW = By the way, CUL = See you later, Yw/Ty = You’re welcome/thank you. Emotions: 🙂 or 🙂 = Smiling (Happy), 🙁 or 🙁 = Frowning (Sad), 😮 = Shouting, xxooxxoo = Love (or hugs) & kisses. See also Shorthand and Meaning from Genealogy.com. (Scroll way down the page to view Shorthand). Examples: = I’m grinning, IMHO = in my humble opinion, FYI = for your information, FWIW = for what it’s worth, ROTFL = rolling on the floor laughing, WTG = way to go, Emotions: 😉 or 😉 = winking, 😀 or 😀 = laughing.

Common Abbreviations from Fact Monster for kids.

Common Abbreviations, Common Symbols, Acronyms for Organizations from Web-based Training Modules funded by the U.S. National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program.

Common Abbreviations from U.S. Department of State.

Common Abbreviations and Acronynms from AllEarsNet.com – Deb’s Unofficial Walt Disney World Information Guide.

Common Abbreviations in Writing.

Common Abbreviations Used in International Narcotics Control Strategy Report.

HyperWar – World War II on the WorldWideWeb – Abbreviations, Acronyms, Codewords, Terms.

Military Abbreviations and Acronyms of the US Armed Forces.

Also, great post to read concerning Abbreviations for Books of the Bible.

 

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