This is a list of common

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

abbreviation An abbreviation (from Latin ''brevis'', meaning ''short'') is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method. It may consist of a group of letters or words taken from the full version of the word or phrase; for example, the word ''abbrevia ...

s. Nearly all the abbreviations below have been adopted by Modern English. However, with some exceptions (for example, ''versus'' or ''

modus operandi A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...

''), most of the Latin referent words and phrases are perceived as foreign to English. In a few cases, English referents have replaced the original Latin ones (e.g., "

rest in peace Rest in peace (RIP), a phrase from the Latin (), is sometimes used in traditional Christian services and prayers, such as in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican, and Methodist denominations, to wish the soul of a decedent eternal rest and peace. ...

" for RIP and "

postscript PostScript (PS) is a page description language in the electronic publishing and desktop publishing realm. It is a dynamically typed, concatenative programming language. It was created at Adobe Systems by John Warnock, Charles Geschke, Doug Br ...

" for PS).

was once the universal academic language in Europe. From the 18th century, authors started using their mother tongues to write books, papers or proceedings. Even when Latin fell out of use, many Latin abbreviations continued to be used due to their precise simplicity and Latin's status as a learned language.

List of common abbreviations

All abbreviations are given with

full stops The full stop (Commonwealth English), period (North American English), or full point , is a punctuation mark. It is used for several purposes, most often to mark the end of a declarative sentence (as distinguished from a question or exclamation ...

, although, in most situations, these are omitted or included as a personal preference.

List of less common abbreviations and usages

Words and abbreviations that have been in general use but are currently used less often.

Used in biology

* aff. (''affinis''): having affinity with, similar but not identical to * auct. (''

auctorum Auctorum indicates that a name in botany and zoology is used in the sense of subsequent authors, and not in the sense as established by the original author. Its etymology derives from the Latin word for ''of authors'', and is abbreviated auct. or a ...

''): of the authors; indicates that a name is used in the sense of subsequent authors, and not in the sense of the original author * Ca. (

Candidatus In prokaryote nomenclature, ''Candidatus'' (Latin for candidate of Roman office) is used to name prokaryotic phyla that are well characterized but yet-uncultured. Contemporary sequencing approaches, such as 16S sequencing or metagenomics, provide m ...

): for candidate names of organisms that have not been completely accepted * ex. (''exemplar''): example or specimen; plural abbreviated as exx. * f. sp. (''

forma specialis ''Forma specialis'' (plural: ''formae speciales''), abbreviated f. sp. (plural ff. spp.) without italics, is an informal taxonomic grouping allowed by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, that is applied to a paras ...

''): a special form adapted to a specific host; plural abbreviated as ff. spp. * in coll. (''in collectionem''): in the collection, often followed by the name of a collection or museum * indet. (''indeterminans''): undetermined, unidentified * leg. (''legit''): he/she collected, often followed by the name of the collector * nob. (''nobis''): by us, used to indicate that the writer(s) are the author(s) of a scientific name *

sensu ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

: "in the sense of", used for different groups of organisms * sp. (''

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

''): species (singular); plural also ''species'', abbreviated as spp. * sp. nov. (''

species nova In biological taxonomy, a ' (plural: '; abbreviation: ' plural abbreviation: ') is a new species. The phrase is Latin language, Latin, and is used after a binomial name that is being published for the first time. An example is the species of min ...

''): new species (singular); plural is ''species novae'', abbreviated as spp. nov. * ssp., subsp. (''

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

''): subspecies (singular); plural is ''subspecies'', abbreviated sspp. or subspp.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Latin Abbreviations * Lists of phrases