300 Technical English abbreviations list

·         2D – (in) two dimensions

·         3D – (in) three dimensions

·         4G – fourth generation (technology)

·         A – ampere(s)

·         A/C – air conditioning

·         AC – alternating current

·         AI – artificial intelligence

·         AIM – amplitude intensity modulation

·         Al – aluminium

·         ALU – arithmetic logic unit

·         AM (radio) – amplitude modulation

·         amp – ampere(s)/ amplifier

·         app – (smartphone) application

·         approx. – approximately (= around/ about/ more or less)

·         AR – augmented reality

·         ARCNET – attached resource computer network

·         arms – armaments

·         ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange

·         ASDL – asymmetric digital subscriber line

·         aux – auxiliary

·         av – (on) average

·         AV – audio-visual

·         BCC – blind carbon copy

·         biotech – biotechnology

·         bot – robot

·         BSI – British Standards Institution

·         btu – British thermal unit(s)

·         bulb – light bulb

·         (degrees) C – (degrees) Celsius/ Centigrade

·         C – carbon

·         c – centi- (as in “cm” for “centimetres” and “cl” for “centilitres”)

·         Ca – calcium

·         CAD (CAM) – computer aided design (computer aided manufacture)

·         (K)cal – (kilo)calorie(s)

·         cat – catalytic convertor

·         CC – carbon copy (also a verb, meaning to copy someone in)

·         cc – cubic centimetres

·         CCTV – closed circuit television

·         CD – compact disc (player)

·         CDU – central display unit

·         cell(phone) – cellular phone

·         CFC – chlorofluorocarbons

·         CGI – computer generated imagery

·         CIO – chief information officer/ chief investment officer

·         Co - cobalt

·         CO2 – carbon dioxide

·         coax - coaxial (cable)

·         comms – communications

·         cos – cosine

·         CPU – central processing unit

·         CRT – cathode ray tube

·         CSIRO – Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (of Australia)

·         CTO – chief technology officer

·         cu… – cubic…

·         cwt – hundredweight

·         d – deci- (as in “dl” for “decilitres”)

·         DAB – digital audio broadcasting (= digital radio)

·         dB – decibel(s)

·         DC – direct current

·         del/ DEL – delete (written abbreviation only)

·         demo – (product) demonstration

·         dish – satellite dish

·         DM – direct message

·         doc – document

·         DOE – Department of Energy

·         doz. – dozen (written abbreviation)

·         dozer – bulldozer

·         DVD – digital video disc/ digital versatile disc

·         e mail – electronic mail

·         EPA – Environmental Protection Agency

·         err/ ERR – error

·         esc/ ESC – escape (key) (written abbreviation)

·         est. – estimated

·         ext. – exterior/ external/ extract

·         F – fluorine

·         (degrees) F – (degrees) Fahrenheit

·         F1/ F2/ F… – function (button)

·         fax – facsimile

·         FDA – Food and Drug Administration

·         (J/JUG/MOS)FET – (junction/ junction gate/ metal-oxide semiconductor) field-effect transistor

·         FFWD – fast forward (written abbreviation)

·         fig. 1/ fig. 2/ fig… – figure 1/ figure 2/ figure…

·         fin tech –financial technology

·         fl. oz. – fluid ounce(s)

·         floppy – floppy disk

·         (mega)flops – (million) floating point operations per second

·         FM (radio) – frequency modulation (radio)

·         forklift – forklift truck

·         fridge – refrigerator

·         ft – foot/ feet

·         fwd/ FWD – forward (= send on)

·         g – (acceleration of) gravity

·         G – giga- (as in “GW” for “gigawatts” and “GHz” for “gigahertz”)

·         g – gram(s)

·         G/ GB/ gig – gigabyte(s)

·         gal – gallon

·         gas – gasoline/ natural gas

·         GM/ GMO – genetically modified (organism)

·         GPS – global positioning system

·         H – hydrogen

·         H&S – health and safety

·         ha – hectare

·         hash – hash sign (= pound sign)

·         hazmat – hazardous materials

·         HD(TV/ recorder) – high definition (television/ recorder)

·         HDD – hard disk drive

·         HDMI – high definition multimedia interface

·         He – helium

·         high spec – high specification

·         high vis (jacket) – high visibility (jacket)

·         hi-tech/ high tech – high technology

·         hp – horsepower

·         hr – hour(s)

·         HSE – Health and Safety Executive

·         HTML – hypertext markup language

·         HUD – head up display

·         Hz – hertz

·         I – iodine

·         I/O – input/ output (device)

·         IC – integrated circuit

·         ICT – information and communications technology

·         IEEE – Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

·         IM – instant message/ instant messenger

·         in – inch

·         INFOSEC – information systems security

·         IoT – (the) internet of things

·         IP – intellectual property

·         IP (address) – internet protocol (address)

·         ISDN – integrated services digital network

·         ISP – internet service provider

·         IT – information technology

·         ITSO – International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation

·         J – joule

·         K – Kelvin

·         k – kilo- (as in “kW” for “kilowatts” and “kJ” for “kilojoules”)

·         K/ KB – kilobyte

·         k/ km – kilometre

·         kg/ kilo – kilogramme/ kilogram (not kilometre)

·         kph – kilometres per hour

·         kt – knot

·         kWh – kilowatt hour(s)

·         l – litre

·         lab – laboratory

·         (V/W)LAN – (virtual/ wireless) local area network

·         laptop – laptop computer

·         lb – pound (weight, not currency)

·         LCD – liquid crystal display

·         (O)LED – (organic) light emitting diode

·         LHS – left-hand side

·         Li – lithium

·         lino – linoleum

·         LNG – liquid natural gas

·         LSI – large-scale integrated (circuit)

·         LW (radio) – longwave (radio)

·         M – mega-

·         m – milli- (as in “mm” for “millimetres”, “mg” for “milligrams”, and “ml” for “millilitres”)

·         m/ M – million (as in “$15m”)

·         mail – email

·         math/ maths – mathematics

·         max – maximum

·         MB/ meg – megabyte(s)

·         MDF – medium-density fibreboard

·         meths – methylated spirits

·         MF – melamine formaldehyde (used in Formica)

·         mic/ mike – microphone

·         microwave – microwave oven

·         mil – millimetres/ million

·         min – minimum/ minute(s) (mainly written)

·         MIPS – million instructions per second

·         mobile – mobile phone

·         MoD – Ministry of Defence

·         mono – monaural

·         MOS – metal oxide semiconductor

·         MOX (fuel) – mixed oxide fuel (a kind of nuclear fuel)

·         mp3 – mp3 player/ mp3 file

·         mpg – miles per gallon

·         mph – miles per hour

·         MRI – magnetic resonance imaging

·         MSG – monosodium glutamate

·         MW – megawatts/ medium wave

·         n – nano

·         N – Newton

·         N – nitrogen

·         NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration

·         Ne – neon

·         Ni – nickel

·         NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology

·         nm/ nmi – nautical mile

·         NSFW – not safe for work

·         – oxygen

·         OA – office automation

·         OP – original poster

·         OS – operating system/ Ordinance Survey (map)

·         OSSN – originating stations serial number

·         OTS – off the shelf

·         oz – ounce(s)

·         P – peta- (as in “PB” for “petabytes”)

·         P – phosphorus

·         p – pico

·         PA – public address (system) (= Tannoy)

·         PAL – programmable array logic

·         PBX – private branch exchange

·         PC – personal computer

·         PCB – printed circuit board

·         PCM – pulse code modulation

·         (HD)PE – (high density) polyethylene

·         PET – polyethylene terephthalate

·         PFM – pulse frequency modulation

·         (P)PGA – (plastic) pin grid array

·         phone – telephone

·         PIN (number) – personal identification number

·         PP – polypropylene

·         PPI – parallel port interface

·         ppm – parts per million

·         prefab – prefabricated

·         psi – pounds per square inch

·         pt – pint

·         PTFE – polytetrafluoroethylene (= Teflon)

·         PVC – polyvinyl chloride

·         QA/ QC – quality assurance/ quality control

·         QR (code) – quick response code

·         quake – earthquake

·         r – radius

·         R&D – research and development

·         (D/S)RAM – (dynamic/ static) random access memory

·         remote – remote control

·         rep – (online) reputation

·         reverb – reverberation

·         revs – revolutions (per minute)

·         RFID – radio frequency identification

·         RGB – red green blue

·         RHS – right-hand side

·         ROM – read only memory

·         rpm – revolutions per minute

·         RRR/ the three Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle

·         rules and regs – rules and regulations

·         S – sulphur

·         SCSI – small computer system interface

·         (SD)SDI (standard definition) serial digital interface

·         SEO – search engine optimization

·         SFDR – spurious free dynamic range

·         short – short circuit

·         Si – silicon

·         sim – simulation

·         SIM (card) – subscriber identity module (card)

·         SIM (card) – subscriber identity module/ subscriber identification module

·         site – website

·         SMS – short message service

·         SNR – signal-to-noise ratio

·         speaker – loudspeaker

·         specs – specifications

·         spy cam – spy camera

·         sq… – square…

·         SQL – structured query language

·         SSD – solid state drive

·         SSI – small scale integration/ synchronous serial interface

·         SSR – solid state relay

·         st – stone (= 14lb)

·         stats – statistics

·         STEM – science technology engineering and maths

·         stereo – stereophonic

·         SW (radio) – shortwave (radio)

·         T – tera- (as in “TB” for “terabytes”)

·         tarp – tarpaulin

·         tech – technical/ technology

·         telecoms – telecommunications

·         teleconference – telephone conference

·         temp – temperature

·         Ti – titanium

·         trig – trigonometry

·         (CA)TV/ telly – (cable) television

·         U – uranium

·         UHF – ultra high frequency

·         UMTS – Universal Mobile Telecommunications System

·         url/ URL – uniform resource locator

·         USB (stick) – universal serial bus

·         USIM – universal subscriber identity module

·         USP – (unique) selling points

·         UV (light) – ultraviolet (light)

·         V – volts

·         VCR – video cassette recorder

·         VDU – video display unit

·         Ver. 1./ Ver. 2.0/ Ver… – version…

·         VHF – very high frequency

·         VHS- Video Home System

·         vid – video

·         video cam – video camera

·         vlog – video log/ video blog

·         vocoder – voice coder

·         VoIP – voice over internet protocol (e.g. Skype)

·         vol – volume (written abbreviation)

·         VPN – virtual private network

·         VR – virtual reality (literally meaning very nearly reality)

·         W – watt(s)

·         WAN – wide area network

·         wellies – wellington boots (= rubber boots/ galoshes)

·         www – worldwide web

·         wysiwyg – what you see is what you get

·         Y2K (bug) – year 2000 (bug)

·         yd – yard(s)