This is a list of acronyms and other common engineering abbreviations for chemicals, plastics, electronics, etc.
- 2D – (in) two dimensions
- 3D – (in) three dimensions
- 4G – fourth generation (technology)
- 5G – fifth 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
- O – 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)