· 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)
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