Abbreviations
a. | ante |
adj./adjs. | adjective/adjectives |
adv./advs. | adverb/adverbs |
Afk. | Afrikaans |
Amer. | American |
Anglo-Ind. | Anglo-Indian (in usage labels) |
Antg. | Antiguan |
Anthol. | Anthology |
approx. | approximate/approximately |
AS | Anglo-Saxon |
attrib. | attributive/attributively |
Aus. | Australia/Australian |
Autobiog. | Autobiography |
backform. | backformation |
backsl. | backslang |
Baha. | Bahamian |
Bdos | Barbadian |
Bel. | Belizean |
Bk/bk | Book/book |
C | century |
c. | circa |
Calif. | California |
Can. | Canadian |
Carib. | Caribbean |
Carib.E. | Caribbean English |
Ch. | Chapter |
Col. | Colonel |
col. | column |
Coll. | Collected |
Colloq./colloq. | Colloquial/colloquial |
comb./combs. | combination/combinations |
con. | context |
Contemp. | Contemporary |
Da. | Danish |
derog. | derogative/derogatory |
dial. | dialect |
Dict. | Dictionary |
dimin. | diminutive |
Dmnca | Dominican |
Du. | Dutch |
ed. | editor/edited by |
edn | edition |
eds. | editors |
Encyc. | Encyclopedia |
Eng. | English |
esp. | especially |
ety./etys. | etymology/etymologies |
Etym. | Etymological |
euph. | euphemism/euphemistic |
Eve. | Evening |
excl. | exclamation |
ext. | extension/extended |
f. | from |
fem. | feminine |
fig. | figurative/figuratively |
form. | formation |
Fr. | French |
Gaz. | Gazette |
Ger. | German |
Gk | Greek |
Gloss. | Glossary |
Gren. | Grenadian |
Guyn. | Guyanese |
Hbk | Handbook |
Heb. | Hebrew |
Hind. | Hindi |
Hisp. | Hispanic |
Hist. | History |
Ibid. | ibidem (in the same book) |
Icel. | Icelandic |
Illus. | Illustrated |
illus. | illustration |
imper. | imperative |
Ind. | Indian |
Indep. | Independent |
interrog. | interrogative |
Ital. | Italian |
Jam. | Jamaican |
Jap. | Japanese |
joc. | jocular |
journ. | journalistic |
Jr | Junior |
Jrnl | Journal |
juv. | juvenile |
L.A. | Los Angeles |
Lang. | Language |
Lat. | Latin |
Lex. | Lexicon |
Lib. | Library |
Ling.Fr. | Lingua Franca |
Lit. | Literature |
lit. | literally/literal |
Mag./mag. | Magazine/magazine |
masc. | masculine |
MDu. | Middle Dutch |
ME | Middle English |
Med. | Medieval |
Mex. | Mexican |
MHG | Middle High German |
milit. | military |
Misc. | Miscellany |
mispron. | mispronunciation |
mis-sp. | mis-spelling |
MLG | Middle Low German |
Ms./ms. | Manuscript/manuscript |
Mss./mss. | Manuscripts/manuscripts |
n. | noun |
naut. | nautical |
N.O. | New Orleans |
No./no. | Number/number |
Norw. | Norwegian |
N.Y. | New York |
N.Z. | New Zealand |
obs. | obsolete |
occas. | occasionally |
OE | Old English |
OF | Old French |
OHG | Old High German |
ON | Old Norse |
onomat. | onomatopoeia/onomatopoeic |
Orig. | Original |
orig. | originally |
pej. | pejorative |
Pers. | Persian |
Phila. | Philadelphia |
phr./phrs. | phrase/phrases |
pfx | prefix |
pl. | plural |
Port. | Portuguese |
poss. | possibly |
P.R. | Puerto Rico/Puerto Rican |
prep. | preposition |
prev. | previous entry or subentry |
prob. | probably |
pron. | pronunciation |
Pt | Part |
publ. | published |
pvb | proverb |
RAF | Royal Air Force |
redup. | reduplication |
ref. | reference |
rhy. sl. | rhyming slang |
RN | Royal Navy |
Rom. | Romany |
Rus. | Russian |
S. Afr. | (in titles) South Africa/South African |
S.Afr. | (in usage labels) South African |
S.Afr.E. | South African English |
S.Afr.Du. | South African Dutch |
St | Saint/Street |
St Lu. | St Lucian |
SAmE | Standard American English |
Sat. | Saturday |
SAusE | Standard Australian English |
Sc. | Scene |
Scot. | Scottish |
SE | Standard English |
Sec. | Secretary |
Sel. | Selected |
Ser. | Series |
S.F. | San Francisco |
SF | science fiction |
sfx | suffix |
sing. | singular |
Skrt | Sanskrit |
Sl./sl. | Slang/slang |
SNZE | Standard New Zealand English |
Sp. | Spanish |
sp. | spelling |
spec. | specifically |
subseq. | subsequent/subsequently |
Sun. | Sunday |
Sw. | Swedish |
synd. | syndicated |
synon. | synonym/synonymous |
Thes. | Thesaurus |
Tob. | Tobagonian |
trad. | traditionally/traditional |
trans. | translator/translated by |
Trib. | Tribune |
Trin. | Trinidadian |
t/s | typescript |
Turk. | Turkish |
UKVI | UK Virgin Islands |
ult. | ultimately |
Und. | Underworld (i.e. criminal cant) |
unpub. | unpublished |
US | United States |
USVI | US Virgin Islands |
usu. | usually |
v. | verb |
var. | variation/variant |
Vocab. | Vocabulary |
Vol. | Volume |
Wash. | Washington |
W.I. | West Indian |
WWI | First World War |
WWII | Second World War |
Yid. | Yiddish |
Yorks. | Yorkshire |
Short Forms of Reference
ADS-L | American Dialect Society List |
AND | Australian National Dictionary |
AS | American Speech |
B | John Bartlett Dictionary of Americanisms |
B&L | Albert Barrère and Charles G. Leland Dictionary of Slang etc. |
B.E. | B.E., Gent. Dictionary of the Canting Crew |
Bee | ‘Jon Bee’ Dictionary of the Turf etc. |
BS | Bernard Share Slanguage |
CUSS | College Undergraduate Slang Study by Collin Baker et al. |
DA | Dictionary of Americanisms by Mitford M. Mathew |
DAE | Dictionary of American English by William Craigie |
DARE | Dictionary of American Regional English ed. Frederic Gomes Cassidy and Joan Houston Hall |
DAUL | Dictionary of American Underworld Lingo by Hyman E. Goldin et al. |
DAUS | Dictionary of Australian Underworld Slang by Gary Simes |
DJE | Dictionary of Jamaican English ed. Frederic Gomes Cassidy and R.B. LePage |
DN | Dialect Notes |
DNZE | Dictionary of New Zealand English ed. H.W. Orsman |
DSAE | Dictionary of South African English ed. Penny Silva |
DSUE | Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English by Eric Partridge |
DU | Dictionary of the Underworld by Eric Partridge |
EDD | English Dialect Dictionary by Joseph Wright |
Egan’s Grose | Pierce Egan Grose’s Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue |
F&H | John S. Farmer and W.E. Henley Slang and Its Analogues |
GAW | G.A. Wilkes Dictionary of Australian Colloquialisms (plus number for edition, e.g. GAW4 for 4th edition) |
Grose | Francis Grose Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue |
GS | Gary Simes ‘Gay Slang Lexicography in Dictionaries’ in Journal of the Dictionary Society of North America |
Harman | Thomas Harman Caveat for Common Cursetours |
HDAS | Historical Dictionary of American Slang by Jonathan Lighter |
Hotten | John Camden Hotten Dictionary of Modern Slang etc. |
JSF | John S. Farmer Americanisms |
KH | Kenneth Hudson Language of the Teenage Revolution |
Lex. Bal. | Lexicon Balatronicum |
Matsell | George W. Matsell Vocabulum |
N | Robert Nares A Glossary |
N&Q | Notes and Queries |
NDAS | New Dictionary of American Slang by Robert L. Chapman |
OED | Oxford English Dictionary |
PADS | Publications of the American Dialect Society |
Partridge | Eric Partridge (see DSUE and DU above) |
R | Hugh Rawson Dictionary of Invective |
Vaux | James Hardy Vaux Memoirs |
W&F | Harold Wentworth and Stuart B. Flexner Dictionary of American Slang |
Ware | J. Redding Ware Passing English of the Victorian Era |
WELS | Wisconsin English Language Survey ed. Frederic Gomes Cassidy |
Williams | Gordon Williams Dictionary of Sexual Language etc. |
Y&B | Henry Yule and A.C. Burnell Hobson-Jobson |