Abbreviations
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
| Abbreviation | Short for | What it means | When to use it |
|---|---|---|---|
| [...] | ellipses | material that has been omitted when quoting someone's words | when removing irrelevant material |
| abbr. | abbreviation, abbreviated | shortening a word/sentence | |
| abr. | abridgement, abridged | shortening a work without losing the meaning | when citing the abridged edition of a work, eg ‘Abr. ed.’ |
| acad. | academy | ||
| adapt. | adapter, adaptation, adapted by | ||
| adj. | adjective | ||
| adv. | |||
| a.m. | ante meridiem | before noon | a time between midnight and midday |
| anon. | anonymous | author is unknown | |
| app. | appendix | ||
| Apr. | April | ||
| arch. | archaic | ||
| art. | article | ||
| assn. | association | ||
| assoc. | associate, associated | ||
| attrib. | attributed to | ||
| Aug. | August | ||
| aux. | auxiliary verb | ||
| b. | born | ||
| bib. | biblical | ||
| bibliog. | bibliographer, bibliography, bibliographic | ||
| biog. | biographer, biography, biographical | ||
| bk. | book | ||
| c., ca. | circa | date is approximate e.g. c. 1675 | |
| cap. | capital, capitalise | ||
| CD | compact disc | ||
| CD-ROM | compact disc read-only memory | ||
| cent. | century | ||
| cf. | compare | ||
| ch., chs., (chap.) | chapter, chapters | when page numbering varies (eg. viewing a work on different e-book readers or a webpage), identifying the chapter, section or paragraph etc. is more stable | |
| chor. | choreographer, choreographed by | ||
| colloq. | colloquial | ||
| comp. | compiler, compiled by | ||
| compar. | comparative | ||
| cond. | conductor, conducted by | ||
| conf. | conference | ||
| Dec. | December | ||
| def. | definition, definite | ||
| dept. | department | ||
| dev. | development, developed by | ||
| dict. | dictionary | ||
| dir. | director, directed by | it is customary to identify significant contributors in a tv broadcast, video, DVD, podcast etc. | |
| diss. | dissertation | ||
| dist. | district | ||
| distr. | distributor, distributed by | ||
| div. | division | ||
| doc. | document | ||
| DVD | digital video/data disc | ||
| DVD-ROM | digital video/data disc read-only memory | ||
| ed., eds. | editor, editors | ||
| educ. | education, educational | ||
| e.g. | exempli gratia | latin for 'example' | |
| electronic mail | |||
| encyc. | encyclopedia | ||
| esp. | especially | ||
| et al. | et alii, et aliae, et alia | Latin for 'and others' | when referencing multiple authors, depending on the referencing style, the first few authors are named, followed by ‘et al.’ |
| etc. | et cetera | Latin for 'and so forth' | not appropriate in academic writing |
| ex. | example | ||
| fac. | faculty | ||
| Feb. | February | ||
| fig. | figure | when referring to a graph or image | |
| fwd. | foreword, foreword by | when page numbering varies (eg. viewing a work on different e-book readers or a webpage), identifying the chapter, section or paragraph etc. is more stable | |
| gov | government | ||
| ibid. | ibidem | in the same work, cited just above | citing the same source as the one immediately above |
| i.e. | id est | Latin for 'in other words' | |
| illus. | illustrator, illustration, illustrated by | ||
| inc. | including, incorporated | ||
| inst. | institute, institution | ||
| intl. | international | ||
| introd. | introduction, introduced by | ||
| Jan. | January | ||
| jour. | journal | ||
| lang. | language | ||
| lib. | library | ||
| lit. | literally, literature, literacy | ||
| loc. cit. | loco citato | in the place (or work) cited | |
| mag. | magazine | ||
| Mar. | March | ||
| misc. | miscellaneous | ||
| mod. | modern | ||
| narr. | narrator, narrated by | if your writing focuses on a significant contributor of a tv broadcast, video, DVD, podcast etc., identify them in your citation | |
| natl. | national | ||
| NB | nota bene | Latin for 'take notice' | |
| n.d. | no date | date of publication is unknown | |
| Nov. | November | ||
| n.p. | no publisher | publisher is unknown | |
| n. pag. | no pagination | the work does not include page numbers | |
| Oct. | October | ||
| op. | opus | in the work cited | |
| op. cit. | opere citato | in the work cited | citation comes from a previously cited source |
| orch. | orchestra, orchestrated by | ||
| org | organisation | ||
| orig. | original, originally | ||
| p.m. | post meridiem | after noon | a time between midday and midnight |
| p., pp. | page, pages | when giving page numbers | |
| para. | paragraph | when page numbering varies (eg. viewing a work on different e-book readers or a webpage), identifying the chapter, section or paragraph etc. is more stable | |
| part. | participle | ||
| portable document format | |||
| perf. | performer, performed by | if your writing focuses on a significant contributor of a tv broadcast, video, DVD, podcast etc., identify them in your citation | |
| pref. | preface, prefaced by | ||
| proc. | proceedings | when citing the proceedings of a conference/symposium | |
| prod. | producer, produced by | it is customary to identify significant contributors in a tv broadcast, video, DVD, podcast etc. | |
| pt. | part | ||
| pub., publ. | publisher, publication, published by | ||
| qtd. | quoted | when citing a quote from a source that was citing another source | |
| rec. | record, recorded | ||
| rev. | revised | ||
| Ref. | Reference | used to indicate the reference section in a library | |
| rev. | review, reviewed by, revision, revised, revised by | spell out review where rev. might be ambiguous | |
| rpt. | reprint, reprinted, reprinted by | ||
| sc. | scene | use to indicate a scene in a movie, play etc. | |
| sec., sect. | Section | when page numbering varies (eg. viewing a work on different e-book readers or a webpage), identifying the chapter, section or paragraph etc. is more stable | |
| Sept. | September | ||
| ser. | series | ||
| [sic] | An error in a quotation | Latin for 'thus' | directly following the incorrect material |
| soc. | society | ||
| spec. | special | use when indicating a special edition of a work | |
| st. | stanza | ||
| St. | Saint, Saints | ||
| supp., suppl. | supplement | ||
| trans. | translated | when acknowledging the translator | |
| TS, TSS | typescript, typescripts | to indicate typed communications when citing personal communications using MLA style | |
| var. | variant | ||
| vers. | version | ||
| v.,vol.,vols. | volume, volumes | ||
| vs. | versus | ||
| writ. | writer, written by | if your writing focuses on a significant contributor of a tv broadcast, video, DVD, podcast etc., identify them in your citation |
