Abbreviations list

Abbreviation is the short form of a word or phrase to be used to represent the full form. Abbreviations letter or group of letters used in writing, printing, and speech to represent a word or phrase in shortened form. Abbreviations are used to save space and time. The most common are arbitrary signs or initial letters for the words themselves.

Shortened word forms have been in use since antiquity, and many current abbreviations have come from Latin. Most of the arts and sciences use symbols as abbreviations; they are universally understood.


Abbreviations list


Why we use Abbreviations?


1. Abbreviation is use in the development of the proliferation of new products and organizations that need to be named. Long descriptive terms can be shortened into mnemonic units. This is especially noticeable in Internet communication, particularly with e-mails, where a huge number of abbreviated forms came into use during the 1990s.

2. A major factor in the trend toward abbreviation is that of economy. In telegraphy, for example, as well as in computerized communications, the extra time, space, and materials required for rendering long words and phrases is an important concern.

3. The need for speed in shorthand and the desire to avoid redundancy in codes makes abbreviation an important element in stenography and cryptography as well.

4. Truncation is especially common in popular speech, as, for example, “the Met” for “the Metropolitan Museum of Art” or “the Metropolitan Opera Association.” At the end of the 1990s, the restricted space of mobile phone screens and the awkwardness of typing on a numerical keypad resulted in a new and highly truncated variety of language, as people began sending text messages with increasing frequency. A new set of abbreviations, often using first letters of the words in a colloquial phrase (as BTW for “by the way”) or using numbers to stand for sounds (as L8R for “later”) were combined with this truncation (as “sup” for “What’s up?”).


Various kinds of Abbreviation:


There are four main kinds of abbreviations:

1.         Shortenings Abbreviation,

2.         Contractions Abbreviation,

3.         Initialisms Abbreviation,

4.         Acronyms Abbreviation,


Shortenings Abbreviation


As – Adj. = Adjective, in = inch, Ind = Indefinite.


Contractions Abbreviation


Example:-  Adv. = Advocate, Dr. = doctor,

In this forms are invariably followed by a period. On the other hand Another kind of contraction is the type with an apostrophe marking the omission of letters:

can’t = cannot, didn’t = did not, you’ve = you have.


Initialisms Abbreviation

Initialisms are made up of the initial letters of words and are pronounced as separate letters. Remember that when the initialism consists entirely of capital letters.

As:  ICC (or I.C.C.), pm (or p.m.), U.S.A. (or USA).


Acronyms Abbreviation

Acronyms are initialisms that have become words in their own right, or similar words formed from parts of several words. They are pronounced as words rather than as a series of letters, and do not have periods. The acronym becomes the standard term and the full form is only used in explanatory contexts. 



Most common abbreviation which is use for writing sms:

SMS = Short Massage Service, MMS = Multimedia Massage Service, Gr8 = Great, u = you, r = are, pls = Please, f9 = fine, bro = brother, N8 = Night, Thx = Thanks, No: = Number, Mob = Mobile, Tel = Telephone, L = Love, 2 = To, 4r = for, ur = your

Some Important Abbreviations for all students specially for BCS and Admission test.

Some Common abbreviation list

Abbreviation list – A 


  1. ADB = Asian Development Bank
  2. ABC = Assistant for Blind Children
  3. ADB = African Development Bank
  4. ADF = Asian Development Fund
  5. AFRC = Armed Force Revolutionary Council
  6. AFTA = Asian Free Trade Area
  7. AIBD = Asian Institute of Broadcasting Development
  8. AID = Agency for International and Development
  9. AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
  10. AIT = Asian Institute of Technology
  11. AJKMC = All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference
  12. AM = Ante Meridiem, (before noon)
  13. AMF = Arab Monetary Fund
  14. ANC = African National Congress
  15. ANZUS = Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty
  16. AOC = Army Ordinance Corps
  17. AOD = Army Ordinance Depot
  18. APA = Associated Press of America
  19. APEC = Asia=Pacific Economic Cooperation
  20. APP = Associated Press of Pakistan
  21. ARCA = Associate of the Royal College of Art
  22. ARCS = Associate of the Royal College of Science
  23. ARP = Air Raid Precaution
  24. ASC = African Socialist Council
  25. ASC = Army Service Corps
  26. ASC = Administrative Staff College
  27. ASEAN = Association of Southeast Asian Nations
  28. ASPAC = Asian and Pacific Council
  29. ADAB = Association of Development Agencies in Bangladesh
  30. ADC = Additional Deputy Commissioner
  31. ADP = Annual Development Plan, Annual Development Programme
  32. AEC = Army Education Crops
  33. AFC = Asian Football Confederation
  34. AFESD = Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development
  35. AFP = Agency France Press
  36. AMIE = Associate Member of the Institute of Engineers
  37. APB = Associate Press of Bangladesh
  38. APL = Army Pathological Laboratory
  39. ATAB = Association of Travel Agencies of Bangladesh
  40. a (in dates) ante
  41. abbrev. = abbreviation (of)
  42. Abbrev. = abbreviation(s)
  43. Acc. = account(s)
  44. Accs. = accounts
  45. A.D. = Anno Domini
  46. Add. = addendum, addenda
  47. Addr. = address
  48. adj. = adjective, adjectival
  49. adj. phr. = adjectival phrase
  50. adv. = adverb, adverbial(ly)
  51. Adv. = advocate Advancem, advancement(s)
  52. alt. = alteration
  53. Anal. = analysis
  54. Anat. = anatomy, anatomical
  55. Anc. = ancient
  56. aphet. = aphetic, aphetized
  57. Apol. = apology, apologies
  58. Apr. = April
  59. Arch. = architecture
  60. Archaeol. = archaeology, archaeological
  61. Archit. = architecture, architectural
  62. Arith. = arithmetic
  63. Astr. = astronomy
  64. Astrol. = astrology
  65. Aug. = August
  66. Auth. author(s)
  67. A.V. = Authorized Version


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