ABBREVIATION (Lat. brevis, short)

This article appears in Volume V01, Page 27 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

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ABBREVIATION (Lat. brevis, short) , strictly a shortening; more particularly, an " abbreviation " is a

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the
alphabet
- ALPHABET (see also WRITING)
; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

or group of letters, taken from a word or words, and employed to represent them for the

sake

SAKE

of brevity. Abbreviations, both of single words and of phrases, having a meaning more or less fixed and recognized, are common in ancient writings and

inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

(see

PALAEOGRAPHY

PALAEOGRAPHY (Gr. aaXalbs, ancient, and ypal6ew, to write)

and DIPLoMATIc), and very many are in use at the present time. A distinction is to be observed between abbreviations and the contractions that are frequently to be met with in old manuscripts, and even in early printed books, whereby letters are dropped out here and there, or particular collocations of letters represented by somewhat arbitrary symbols. The commonest form of abbreviation is the substitution for a word of its initial

letter

LETTER (through Fr. lettre from Lat. littera or litera, letter of the
alphabet
- ALPHABET (see also WRITING)
; the origin of the Latin word is obscure; it has probably no connexion with the root of linere, to smear, i.e. with wax, for an inscription with a stilus)

; but, with a view to prevent ambiguity, one or more of the other letters are frequently added. Letters are often doubled to indicate a plural or a
superlative.
I. CLASSICAL ABBREVIATIONS.The following

list

LIST (O.E.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr.
lisle
- LISLE, ALICE (c. 1614-1685)
)
LIST,
FRIEDRICH
- FRIEDRICH, JOHANN (1836— )
(1789-1846)

contains a selection from the abbreviations that occur in the writings
and

inscriptions

INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

of the Romans:
A.
A. Absolvo, Aedilis, Aes, Ager, Ago, Aio, Amicus, Annus, Antiquo, Auctor, Auditor,

Augustus

AUGUSTUS (a name 1 derived from Lat. augeo, increase, i.e. venerable, majestic, Gr. Ee0avr6s)

, Aulus, Aurum, Aut.
A.A. Aes alienum, Ante audita, Apud agrum, Aurum argentum.
AA.

Augusti

AUGUSTI, JOHANN CHRISTIAN WILHELM (1772-1841)

. AAA.

Augusti

AUGUSTI, JOHANN CHRISTIAN WILHELM (1772-1841)

tres. A.A.A.F.F. Auro argento acre flando feriundo.'
A.A.V. Alter ambove.
A.C. Acta causa, Alius civis.
A.D. Ante diem; e.g. A.D.V. Ante diem quintum. A.D.A. Ad dandos agros.

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