

Another exception is when something is most commonly known by its acronym (i.e., its article here is at the acronym title), in which case the expansion can come in the parenthetical or be omitted, except in the lead of its own article: according to the CIA (U.S.
#Abbreviations for words online full
Common exceptions to this rule are post-nominal initials because writing them out in full would cause clutter. maximum transmission unit (MTU) if it is used later in the article. Unless specified in the " Exceptions" section below, an acronym should be written out in full the first time it is used on a page, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, e.g. If no article exists for the subject acronym, then style should be resolved by considering consistent usage in source material. NATO), then other articles referring to or using the acronym should use the same style (capitalisation and punctuation) that has been used within the main article. If there is an article about the subject of an acronym (e.g. Our readers should not be browbeaten with the obvious. It is not necessary to state that an acronym is an acronym. Do not apply italics, boldfacing, underlining, or other highlighting to the letters in the expansion of an acronym that correspond to the letters in the acronym, as in BX ( Base E xchange). Emphasis: Do not apply special style, such as SMALL CAPS, to acronyms.Note that Wikipedia generally avoids using full point in upper-case acronyms.


They lived near Courtyard Sq., not They lived near Courtyard Sq.).Ĭontractions that contain an apostrophe ( don't, shouldn't, she'd) never take a period (except at the end of a sentence, of course). If an abbreviation ending in a full point ends a sentence, do not use an extra full point (e.g.

In the case of an acronym containing full points between letters, it should also have a full point after the final letter. Modern style is to use a full point (period) after a shortening (see § Exceptions) but no full point with an acronym. As an example, for New Zealand gross national product, use NZ and GNP, with a link if the term has not already been written out: NZ GNP do not use the made-up initialism NZGNP). If it is necessary to abbreviate in small spaces ( infoboxes, navboxes and tables), use widely recognised abbreviations. For example, " International Feline Federation" is good as a translation of Fédération Internationale Féline, but neither the anglicisation nor the reduction IFF is used by the organisation use the original name and its official abbreviation, FIFe.
