| Acronym | Long-Form |
|---|---|
| A | Ampere |
| AAAC | All Aluminum Alloy Conductor |
| AAC | All Aluminum Conductor |
| AC | Alternating Current or Auxiliary Carry |
| A/C | Air Conditioning |
| ACB | Air Circuit Breaker |
| ACCB | Air Case Circuit Breaker |
| ACDB | Alternating Current Distribution Board |
| ACSR | Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced |
| ADC | Analog to Digital Converter |
| AF | Audio Frequence |
| AFC | Automated Frequency Control or Available Fault Current |
| AFCI | Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter |
| AGC | Automatic Gain Control |
| AGMA | American Gear Manufacturer’s Association |
| Ah | Ampere-hour |
| AHU | Air Handling Unit |
| AIC | Ampere Interrupting Capacity |
| Al | Aluminum |
| ALCI | Appliance Leakage Current Interrupter |
| ALE | Address Latch Enable |
| ALU | Arithmetic Logic Unit |
| AMD | Advanced Micro Device |
| ANSI | American National Standards Institute |
| APFC | Automatic Power Factor Control |
| ASI | Asynchronous Serial Interface |
| ASCI | American Standard Code For Information |
| Ask | Amplitude Shift Keying |
| ASTA | Association of Short-circuit Testing Authorities |
| ATC | Automatic Temperature Control |
| ATS | Automatic Transfer Switch |
| AVR | Automatic Voltage Regulator |
| AWA | Aluminum wire Armour |
| AWG | American Wire Gauge |
| B | Electrical Susceptance or Base |
| BBUL | Bumpless Build-Up Layer |
| BCD | Binary Coded Decimal |
| BGA | Ball Grid Array |
| BIL | Breakdown Insulation Level |
| BJT | Bipolar Junction Transistor |
| BLAC | Brushless AC |
| BLDC | Brushless DC |
| BMS | Battery Management System |
| BPSK | Binary Phase Shift Keying |
| BTB | Branch Target Buffer |
| BTU | British Thermal Units |
| C | Capacitance or Capacitor or Collector or Celsius or Centigrade |
| CAD | Computer-Aided Design |
| CATV | Cable Television or Community Antennae Television |
| CB | Circuit Breaker or Common Base |
| CBCU | Circuit Breaker Control Unit |
| CBM | Certified Ballast Manufacturer |
| CBR | Constant Bitrate |
| CC | Common Collector |
| CCR | Central Control Room |
| CCTV | Closed Circuit Television |
| CCU | Central Control Unit |
| CDA | Common Drain Amplifier |
| CDIP | Ceramic Dual In-Line Package |
| CDM | Charged-Device Model |
| CDMA | Code Division Multiple Access |
| CE | Common Emitter or Chip Enable |
| CEGB | Central Electricity Generating Board |
| CISC | Complex Instruction Set Computer |
| CLF | Current Limiting Fuse |
| CMOS | Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor |
| Cont. | Continuous Quantity |
| COR CU | Corrugated Copper |
| Cos φ | Power Factor |
| CPGA | Ceramic Pin Grid Array |
| CPT | Control Power Transformer |
| CPU | Central Processing Unit |
| CRO | Cathode Ray Oscilloscope |
| CRT | Cathode Ray Tube |
| CS | Chip Select |
| CSA | Cross-Sectional Area or Common Source Amplifier |
| CSI | Current Source Inverter |
| CSP | Chloro-Sulfonated Polyethylene |
| CSS | Computerized Synchronising System |
| CT | Current Transformer |
| CU | Copper |
| CUWB | Copper Wire Braid |
| dB | Decibel |
| D | Degree or Diode |
| DAC | Digital to Analog Converter |
| DB | Distribution Board |
| db | Decibel |
| DC | Direct Current |
| DCDB | Direct Current Distribution Board |
| DCS | Distributed Control System |
| DE | Drive End of a shaft |
| Dia. | Diameter |
| DIP | Dual In-line Package |
| DMA | Direct Memory Access |
| DMS | Data Management System |
| DMT | Definite Minimum Time |
| DOL | Direct On-Line |
| DP | Double Pole |
| DPDT | Double Pole Double Throw |
| DPIC | Double Pole Iron Clad |
| DPR | Dividing Pulse Relay |
| DPST | Double Pole Single Throw |
| DSSO | Double Switched Socket Outlet |
| DT | Definite Time |
| DUT | Device Under Test |
| DWR | Divided Winding Rotor |
| E | Earth or Emitter |
| EB | Equipment Branch |
| EBCDIC | Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Coad |
| EC | Electrical Code or Electrical Contractor or Electronic Commutator |
| ECC | Error Checking & Correction |
| ECG | Electro Cardio Graphs |
| ECHA | Equipment Certified for Hazardous Area |
| EEMUA | Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association |
| EF | Exhaust Fan or Earth Fault |
| EFR | Earth Fault Relay |
| EHT | Extra-High Tension |
| EHV | Extra-High Voltage |
| EIEMA | Electrical Installation Equipment Manufacturer’s Association |
| EINV | Extremely Inverse |
| ELCB | Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker |
| ELEV | Elevator |
| ELV | Extra Low voltage |
| EM | Emergency |
| EMA | Ethylene Methyl Acrylate |
| EMC | Electromagnetic Compatibility |
| EMF or emf | Electromotive Force |
| EMI | Electromagnetic Interference or Electro Magnetic Inductor |
| EMT | Electrical Metallic Tubing |
| EOS | Electrostatic Overstress |
| EP | Emergency Power |
| EPA | Electrostatic Discharge Protected Area |
| EPDM | Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer |
| EPO | Emergency Power Off (Button or Switch) |
| EPR | Ethylene Propylene Rubber |
| ERA | Electrical Research Association |
| ERM | Electronic Restart Module |
| ESD | Emergency Shut Down or Electrostatic Discharge |
| ESDS | Electrostatic Sensitive Device System |
| ESP | Electric Submersible Pump |
| EST | Extra Super Tension |
| EWC | Electric Water Cooler |
| EWS | Engineering Work Station |
| F | Fuse or Frequency or Fahrenheit or Fire or Farad |
| FA | Fire Alarm |
| FAA | Fire Alarm Annunciator |
| FAT | Factory Acceptance Testing |
| FBA | Factory Built Assemblies |
| FBT | Flyback Transformer |
| FCPGA | Flip Chips Pin Gird Array |
| FCU | Feeder Control Unit |
| FET | Field Effect Transistor |
| Fig. | Figure |
| FLA | Full Load Amperes |
| Flex | Flexible (use for the cable) |
| FMC | Flexible Metal Conduit |
| Fr | Resonant Frequency |
| FSK | Frequency Shift Keying |
| G | Ground or Conductance or Gas or Generator |
| GCB | Gas Circuit Breaker |
| GCP | Generator Control Panel |
| GDT | Gas Discharge Tube |
| GFCI | Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter |
| GFI | Ground Fault Interrupter |
| GIS | Gas-Insulated Switchgear |
| GND | Ground |
| GO | Gang Operated |
| GOR | Gas to Oil Ratio |
| GPIO | General Purpose Input/Output |
| GPS | Global Positioning System |
| GRMC | Galvanized Rigid Metal Conduit |
| GRP | Glass Reinforced Plastic |
| GSWA | Galvanised Steel Wire Armour |
| GSWB | Galvanised Steel Wire Braid |
| GTG or GT | Gas-Turbine Generator |
| GTO | Gate turn off thyristor |
| H | Hour |
| HCL | Hydrogen Chloride, Gas or Acid |
| HF | High Frequency |
| HIDA | Hold Acknowledge |
| HOA | Hand-Off-Automatic Switch |
| HOLD | Hold Indicates |
| HRC | High Rupturing Capacity |
| HT | High Tension |
| HV | High Voltage |
| HVAC | Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning |
| Hz | Hertz (Frequency in Cycles/Second) |
| I | Current or Input |
| IALA | International Association of Lighthouse Authorities |
| IB | Base Current |
| IC | Colleter Current or Integrated Circuit |
| ICIBDB | Iron Clad Distribution Board |
| ICSP | In-Circuit Serial Programming |
| ICTP | Iron Clad Triple Pole |
| ICU | Instruction Control Unit |
| IDMT | Inverse Definite Minimum Time |
| IE | Emitter Current |
| IEC | International Electrotechnical Commission |
| IEE | Institution of Electrical Engineers |
| IEEE | Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers |
| IG | Isolated Ground |
| IGBT | Insulated-Gate Bipolar Transistor |
| IHS | Integrated Heat Speaker |
| IMC | Intermediate Metal Conduit |
| IMCS | Integrated Motor Control System |
| IMS | Information Management System |
| Inst. | Instantaneous |
| Int | Interlock or Intermittent |
| INTA | Interrupt Acknowledge |
| INTR | Interrupt Request |
| IOW | Input / Output Write |
| IPMSM | Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor |
| IR | Insulation Resistance or Infrared |
| IRE | Institution of Radio Engineers |
| IS | Starting Current |
| ISO | International Standards Organisation |
| J | Joule or Jump |
| JFET | Junction Field Effect Transistor |
| KCMIL | Thousand Circular Mils |
| K | Kelvin |
| Kv | Kilo Volts |
| KVA | Kilovolt-Amperes |
| KVAR | Kilovolt-Amperes Reactive |
| Kw | Kilo-watt |
| KWh | Kilo Watt Hour |
| L | Line or Inductance or Inductor |
| LA | Lightning Arrester |
| LAN | Local Area Network |
| LCC | Leadless Chip Carrier |
| LCD | Liquid Crystal Display |
| LCS | Local Control Station |
| LDR | Light Dependent Resistor |
| LED | Light Emitting Diode |
| LF | Low Frequency |
| LFMC | Liquid Tight Flexible Metal Conduit |
| LLRP | Low-Level Reader Protocol |
| LMS | Load Management System or Line Maintenance Service |
| LNG | Liquefied Natural Gas |
| LOPT | Line Output Transformer |
| LPS | Lightning Protection System |
| LRA | Locked Rotor Amperes |
| LSD | Least Significant Digit |
| LSF | Low Smoke and Fume |
| LSI | Large Scale Integration |
| LSS | Load Shedding System |
| LT | Low Tension |
| LTG | Lighting |
| LV | Low Voltage |
| LVDT | Linear Variable Differential Transformer |
| m | Meter or Milli |
| M | Motor |
| mA | Milli-ampere |
| MC | Metal Clad Cable |
| MCB | Main Circuit Breaker |
| MCC | Motor Control Center |
| MCCB | Moulded Case Circuit Breaker |
| MCM | Multi Cavity Module |
| MCP | Motor Circuit Protection |
| MCR | Maximum Continuous Rating |
| MCU | Motor Control Unit |
| Mf | Multiplying Factor |
| Mho | Unit of Admittance |
| MI | Mineral Insulated on Machine Interface |
| MIC | Minimum Ignition Current |
| MISO | Master Input Slave Output |
| MESG | Maximum Experimental Safe Gap |
| MLO | Main Lugs Only |
| MM | Machine Model |
| mm | Millimeters |
| MMF | Magneto-Motive Force |
| MMI | Man-Machine Interface |
| MMSCF | Million Standard Cubic Feet |
| MOG | Magnetic Oil Gauge |
| Mole | Molecular Weight |
| MOSI | Master Output Slave Input |
| MOSFET | Metal Oxide Semiconduction Field Effect Transistor |
| MOV | Metal Oxide Varistor |
| MS | Main Switch |
| MSD | Most Significant Digit |
| MSI | Medium Scale Integration |
| MSW | Module Steel Work |
| MT | Main Terminal |
| MTBF | Mean Time Between Failures |
| MTTR | Mean Time To Repair |
| MV | Medium Voltage or Milli-Volt |
| MVA | Mega-Volt-Ampere |
| MVAR | Mega-Volt-Ampere Reactive |
| MW | Megawatt |
| N | Neutral or Number |
| NBR | Nitrile Butadiene Rubber |
| NC | Normally Closed |
| NCT | Neutral Current Transformer |
| NDE | Non-Drive End |
| NEC | National Electrical Code |
| NEMA | National Electrical Manufacturers Association |
| NER | Neutral Earth Resistor |
| NFPA | National Fire Protection Association |
| NINV | Normal Inverse |
| NL | Neutral Link or Night Light |
| NO | Normally Open or Number |
| NOx | Nitrogen-based Gas Emissions |
| Ns | Synchronous Speed or Motor Speed |
| NTS | Not To Scale |
| O | Open |
| OC | Over Current or Open Circuit |
| OCB | Oil Circuit Breaker |
| OCTC | On-Circuit Tap Changer |
| OF | Over Frequency |
| OHL | Overhead Line |
| Ohm | Resistance Unit |
| OIM | Offshore Installation Manager |
| OL | Over Load |
| OLTC | On-Load Tap Changer |
| OFAF | Forced Circulation of Internal Liquid Forced |
| OV | Over Voltage |
| P | Pole or Power or Active Power |
| PA | Public Address (Use in the system) |
| PAM | Pulse or pole Amplitude Modulation |
| PB | Push Button or Panic Button or Pull Box |
| PBWB | Phosphor Bronze Wire Braid |
| PC | Programmable Controller or Personal Computer or Program Counter |
| PCC | Point of Common Connection or Power Control Centre |
| PD | Potential Difference |
| PDIP | Plastic Dual In-Line Package |
| P&ID | Piping and Instrument Diagram |
| PET | Power Equipment Testing |
| PF | Power Factor |
| PGA | Pin Grid Array |
| Ph | Phase |
| PIPO | Parallel In Parallel Out |
| PISO | Parallel In Serial Out |
| Pk | Peak Value |
| PLC | Programmable Logic Controller |
| PLCC | Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier |
| PM | Pulse Modulation or Permanent Magnet |
| PMS | Power Management System |
| PMSM | Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor |
| PNL | Panel |
| PPGA | Plastic Pin Grid Array |
| PSK | Phase Shift Keying |
| PSW | Program Status Word |
| PT | Potential Transformer or Power Transformer |
| PTB | Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt |
| PU | Per Unit |
| PVC | Polyvinyl Chloride |
| PWM | Pulse Width Modulation |
| Q | Reactive Power or Charge |
| QA | QA Quality Assurance |
| QC | Quality Control |
| QPSK | Quadrature Phase Shift Keying |
| Qty. | Quantity |
| R | Resistance or Resistor or Reset or Remote or Rectifier |
| Rad | Radian |
| RAM | Random Access Memory |
| RCBC | Residual Current Circuit Breaker |
| RCCB | Residual Current Circuit Breaker |
| RCD | Residual Current Device |
| RCU | Remote Control Unit |
| Ref. | Reference |
| REF | Restricted Earth Fault |
| REQ | Required |
| RFID | Radio Frequency Identification |
| RISC | Reduced Instruction Set Computer |
| RLA | Rated Load Ampere |
| RMC | Rigid Metal Conduit |
| RMG | Ring Main Gear |
| RMS | Root Mean Square |
| RMU | Ring Main Unit |
| RNC | Rigid Non-Metallic Conduit |
| ROM | Read-Only Memory |
| RPR | Reverse Power Relay |
| RS | Recommended Standard |
| RTD | Resistance Temperature Detector |
| RTS | Remote Test Station |
| RTU | Roof Top Unit or Remote Transmitter Unit |
| Rx | Receiver |
| S | Set or Apparent Power or Start or Slip or Switch |
| SB | Switch Board |
| SC | Short Circuit |
| SCADA | Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition |
| SCF | Standard Cubic Feet |
| SCIM | Squirrel Cage Induction Motor |
| SCK | Serial Clock |
| SCR | Silicon Controlled Rectifier |
| SEB | Service End Line Box or Service Electrical Box |
| SEC | Single Edge Cartridge or Single Edge Contact |
| SECT | Skin Effect Current Trace |
| SELV | Safety extra-low voltage |
| SF6 | Sulphur Hexa- Fluoride |
| SFU | Switch Fuse Unit |
| SI | International System |
| SID | Single Input Data or Serial Input Data |
| SP | Spare or Single Phase or Single Pole |
| SPDT | Single Pole Double Throw |
| SPI | Serial Peripheral Interface |
| SIPI | Serial In Parallel In |
| SIPO | Serial In Parallel Out |
| SISO | Serial In Serial Out |
| SMPS | Switch Mode Power Supply |
| SOD | Serial Output Data |
| SP | Single Pole |
| SPMSM | Surface Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor |
| SPST | Single Pole Single Throw |
| SPT | Stranded Parallel Thermoplastic |
| Sq | Square |
| SRM | Switched Reluctance Motor |
| SSI | Small Scale Integration |
| SSR | Sub Synchronous Resonance or Solid State Relay |
| SSSO | Single Switched Socket Outlet |
| ST | Shunt Trip or Super Tension |
| STG | Steam Turbine Generator |
| STR | Statimax Trip Release |
| Sw | Switch |
| SWA | Steel Wire Armour |
| SWBD | Switchboard |
| SWGR | Switchgear |
| SYM | Symmetrical |
| SyRM | Synchronous Reluctance Motor |
| Sync. | Synchronizing |
| T | Time or Temperature or Timer |
| TB | Terminal Box or Block |
| TC | Trip Circuit |
| TCP | Turbine Control Panel |
| TCS | Trip Circuit Supervision |
| TD | Tunnel Diode |
| TDRR | Time-Delayed Restart Relay |
| TEFC | Totally Enclosed Fan Cooled |
| TEL | Telephone |
| Temp. | Temperature |
| TESFC | Totally Enclosed Separate Fan Cooled |
| TG | Turbo-Generator |
| TGB | Telecommunications Grounding Busbar |
| THF | Telephone Harmonic Factor |
| TLSB | Translation Look A-Side Buffer |
| TMCB | Thermal Magnetic Circuit Breaker |
| TOP | Turbine Operating Temperature |
| TP | Triple Pole |
| TPN | Three-Phase and Neutral |
| TPPL | Total Plant Peak Load |
| TPRL | Total Plant Running Load |
| Tran | Transformer |
| Trap I | Trap Interrupt |
| TTL | Transistor-Transistor Logic |
| TMCB | Thermal Magnetic Circuit Breaker |
| TPDT | Triple Pole Double Throw |
| TPIC | Triple Pole Iron Clad |
| TPS | Triple Pole Switch |
| TPST | Triple Pole Single Throw |
| TRS | Tough Rubber Sheathed |
| Tv | Television |
| TVSD | Transient Voltage Suppression Diode |
| Tx | Transformer |
| U | Voltage (Use for Energy) |
| UART | Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter |
| UC | Under Current |
| UJT | Uni Junction Transistor |
| UCP | Unit Control Panel |
| UDS | Uniform Drawing System |
| UEL | Upper Explosive Limit |
| UF | Under Frequency |
| UG | Under Ground |
| UHF | Ultra-High Frequency |
| UL | Underload or Underwriters Laboratory |
| ULSI | Ultra Large Scale Integration |
| UPS | Uninterruptible Power Supply |
| USART | Universal Synchronous and Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter |
| USB | Universal Serial Bus |
| UV | Under Voltage or Ultra-Violet |
| V | Voltage or Volt |
| VA | Volt-Ampere |
| Vac | Alternating Voltage |
| VAr | Reactive Volt-Ampere |
| VCB | Vacuum Circuit Breaker |
| VCR | Video Cassette Recorder |
| Vdc | Direct Voltage |
| VDR | Voltage-Dependent Resistor |
| VDU | Visual Display Unit |
| VFD | Variable Frequency Drive |
| VFDP | Variable Frequency Drive Panel |
| VHF | Very High Frequency |
| VIF | Virtual Interrupt Flag |
| VIP | Virtual Interrupt Pending |
| VIR | Vulcanized Indian Rubber |
| VSD | Variable Speed Drive |
| VSDS | Variable Speed Drive System |
| VSI | Voltage Source Inverter |
| VT | Voltage Transformer |
| VVR | Voltage Variable Resistor |
| W | Watt or Wire or Frequency (in radian/second) |
| Wdg. | Winding (Use in a machine) |
| WH | Water Heater |
| WHRU | Waste Heat Recovery Unit |
| WP | Weather Proof |
| WRIM | Wound Rotor Induction Motor |
| WRSM | Wound Rotor Synchronous Motor |
| X | Reactance |
| XFMR | Transformer |
| XLPA | Cross-Linked polyalkene |
| XLPE | Cross-Linked Polyethylene |
| Y | Admittance |
| Z | Impedance |
| ZH | Zero Halogens (use for cables) |
For Example:
What does DC stand for?
DC stand for "Direct Current".
You can use this as short hand Electronics and electrical dictionary.
I’m listing down those abbreviations in alphabetical order. Along with the full form, some of the abbreviations are linked to an article that will describe that terminology in detail like definitions, formulas, and usages.
Also, in industrial automation study, we used different short abbreviations. You can read the Industrial Automation Dictionary.
I have completed master in Electrical Power System. I work and write technical tutorials on the PLC, MATLAB programming, and Electrical on DipsLab.com portal.
Sharing my knowledge on this blog makes me happy. And sometimes I delve in Python programming.
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