Electronic Acronyms
Term / DefinitionA (amp) / Ampere
AC / Alternating current
AC/DC / Alternating current or direct current
A/D / Analog to digital
ADC / Analog-to-digital converter
AF / Audio frequency
AFT / Automatic fine-tuning
AFC / Automatic frequency control
AFC / Automatic flow controller, used in controlling the flow of gasses under pressure into a vacuum system
AGC / Automatic gain control
Ah / Ampere-hour
Ai / Current gain
AM / Amplitude modulation
AM/FM / Amplitude modulation or Frequency modulation
AMM / Analog multi-meter
Antilog / Antilogarithm
Ap / Power gain
apc / Automatic phase control
Av / Voltage gain
AVC / Automatic volume control
AWG / American wire gauge
B / Flux density
BCD / Binary coded decimal
Bfo / Beat frequency oscillator
BJT / Bipolar junction transistor
BW / Bandwidth
c / Centi (10-2)
C / Capacitance or capacitor
CAD / Computer aided design
CAM / Computer aided manufacture
CATV / Cable TV
CB / Common base configuration
CB / Citizen's band
CC / Common collector
CE / Common emitter
cm / Centimeter
cmil / Circular mil
CPU / Central processing unit
C (Q) / Coulomb
CR cr / Junction diode
CRO / Cathode ray oscilloscope
CRT / Cathode ray tube
CT / Total capacitance
cw / Continuous transmission
d / Deci (10-1)
D/A or D-A / Digital to analog
DC / Direct current
Diori / Change in current
DIP / Dual in-line package
DMM / Digital multimeter
DPDT / Double pole double throw
Dtort / Change in time
DTL / Diode transistor logic
Dvorv / Change in voltage
DVM / Digital voltmeter
E DC or Erms / Difference in potential
e / Instantaneous difference in potential
ECG / Electrocardiogram
ECL / Emitter coupled logic
EHF / Extremely high frequency
EHV / Extra high voltage
ELF / Extremely low frequency
EMF / Electromotive force
EMI / Electromagnetic interference
EW / Electronic warfare
f / Frequency
FET / Field effect transistor
FF / Flip flop
fil / Filament
FM / Frequncy modulation
fr / Frequency at resonance
fsk / Frequency-shift keying
FSD / Full-scale deflection
G / Gravitational force
G / Conductance
G / Giga (109)
H / Henry
H / Magnetic field intensity
H / Magnetizing flux
h / hecto (102)
h / Hybrid
HF / High frequency
hp / Horsepower
Hz / Hertz
I / Current
i / Instantaneous current
IB / DC base current
IC / DC collector current
IC / Integrated circuit
Ie / Total emitter current
Ieff / Effective current
IF / Intermediate frequency
Imax / Maximum current
Imin / Minimum current
I/O / Input/output
IR / Infrared
IR / Resistor current
IS / Secondary current
IT / Total current
JFET / Junction field effect transistor
K / Coefficient of coupling
k / Kilo (103)
kHz / Kilohertz
kV / Kilovolt
kVA / Kilovoltampere
kW / Kilowatt
kWh / Kilowatt-hour
L / Coil, inductance
LC / Inductance-capacitance
LCD / Liquid crystal display
L-C-R / Inductance-capacitance-resistance
LDR / Light-dependent resistor
LED / Light emitting diode
LF / Low frequency
LM / Mutual inductance
LNA / Low noise amplifier
LO / Local oscillator
LSI / Large scale integration
LT / Total inductance
M / Mega (106)
M / Mutual conductance
M / Mutual inductance
m / Milli (10-3)
mA / Milliampere
mag / Magnetron
max / Maximum
MF / Medium frequency
mH / Millihenry
MHz / Megahertz
min / Minimum
mm / Millimeter
mmf / Magnetomotive force
MOS / Metal oxide semiconductor
MOSFET / Metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor
MPU / Microprocessor unit
MSI / Medium-scale integrated circuit
mV / Millivolt
mW / Milliwatt
N / Number of turns in an inductor
N / Revolutions per minute
n / Nano (10-9)
N / Negative
nA / Nanoampere
NC / Normally closed
NC / No connection
NEG, neg / Negative
nF / Nanofarad
nH / Nanohenry
nm / Nanometer
NO / Normally open
NPN / Negative-positive-negative
ns / Nanosecond
nW / Nanowatt
Op-Amp / Operational amplifier
P / Pico (10-12)
P / Power
p / Instantaneous power
P / Positive, also peak
PA / Public address or power amplifier
pA / Picoampere
PAL / Programmable Array Logic
PAM, pam / Pulse amplitude modulation
Pap / Apparent power
Pav / Average power
PCB / Printed circuit board
PCM, pcm / Pulse-code modulation
PDM / Pulse-duration modulation
pF / Picofarad
PLD / Programmable logic device
PLL / Phase-locked loop
PM / Phase modulation, also Permanent magnet
PNP / Positive-negative-positive
POT, pot / Potentiometer
P-P / Peak to peak
PPM / Pulse-position modulation
PRF / Pulse repetition frequency
PRT / Pulse repetition time
pw / Pulse width
PWM, pwm / Pulse width modulation
Q / Charge, also quality
q / Instantaneous charge
R / Potentiometer
R / Resistance
RAM / Random access memory
RC / Resistance-capacitance, also Radio controlled
rcvr / Receiver
rect / Rectifier
ref / Reference
rf / Radio frequencies
RF / Radio frequencies
RFI / Radio frequency interference
RL / Load resistor
RLC / Resistance-capacitance-inductance
RMS, rms / Root mean square
ROM / Read only memory
rpm / Revolutions per minute
SCR / Silicon controlled rectifier
SHF / Super high frequency
SIP / Single in-line package
SNR / Signal-to-noise ratio
SPDT / Single pole double throw
sq cm / Square centimeter
SSB / Single sideband
SW / Short wave
SWR / Standing-wave ratio
SYNC, sync / Synchronous
T / Tera (1012)
T / Torque
T / Transformer
t / Time in seconds
TC / Time constant, also temperature coefficient
TE / Transverse electric
temp / Temperature
THz / Terahertz
TM / Transverse magnetic
TR / Transmit-receive
TTL / Transistor-transistor logic
TV / Television
TWT / Travelling wave tube
UHF / Ultra high frequency
UHV / Ultra high voltage
UJT / Unijunction transistor
UV / Ultraviolet
V / Vacuum tube
V, v / Volt
v / Instantaneous voltage
VA / Volt ampere
Vav / Voltage (average value)
VBE / DC voltage base to emitter
Vc / Capacitive voltage
VCE / DC voltage collector to emitter
VCO / Voltage controlled oscillator
VHF / Very high frequency
Vin / Input voltage
VL / Inductive voltage
VLF / Very low frequency
Vm, Vmax / Maximum voltage
VOM / Volt ohm milliameter
Vout / Output voltage
Vp / Primary voltage
VS / Source voltage
VSWR / Voltage standing wave ratio
VT / Total voltage
W / Watt
XC / Capacitive reactance
XL / Inductive reactance
Y / Admittance
Z / Impedance
Zin / Input impedance
Zo / Output impedance
Zp / Primary impedance
Zs / Secondary impedance
ZT / Total impedance
k / Kilohm
M / Megohm
µA / Microamp
µF / Microfarad
µH / Microhenry
µV / Microvolt
µW / Microwatt
/ Ohm
° / Degrees
°C / Degrees centigrade or Celcius
°F / Degrees Farenheit
Electronic Acronyms courtesy Twisted Pair (