Common Electrical Abbreviations

December 10, 2024

165

Electrical abbreviations, which include both electrical full forms and electrical short forms, are essential in the daily work of engineers and technicians.

They serve as a standardized abbreviation for electrical systems & components, establishing a universal language for effective communication.

The short form of electrical terms simplifies the interchange of technical knowledge, lowering the possibility of miscommunication and errors.

These abbreviations are widely used in areas such as

HVAC,
Telecommunications, and
Manufacturing,

ensuring uniform understanding across specialists. Engineers and technicians can work more effectively and productively by combining electrical short forms and full forms.

Here’s a collection of commonly used 750+ electrical abbreviations.

Alphabetical Electrical Abbreviations

S.No	Electrical Abbreviation	Full Form
1	A	Amperes, amps.
2	App	Peak-to-peak amperes
3	AA	Anti-Aliasing
4	AAAC	All Aluminum Alloy Conductor
5	AAC	All Aluminum Conductor
6	AACSR	Aluminum Alloy Conductor Steel Reinforced
7	AAF	Anti-Aliasing Filter
8	ABC	Aerial Bundled Conductors or Cables
9	AB switch	Air Break switch
10	AC	Alternating current or voltage
11	A/C	Air Conditioning
12	ACAR	Aluminum Conductor Alloy Reinforced
13	ACB	Air Circuit Breaker
14	ACCB	Air Case Circuit Breaker
15	ACDB	Alternating Current Distribution Board
16	ACSR	Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced
17	ACVS	Air Conditioning & Ventilation System
18	ADC	Analog to Digital Converter
19	AF	Audio Frequency or Audible Frequency
20	AFC	Automated Frequency Control
21	AFC	Available Fault Current
22	AFCB	Arc Fault Circuit Breaker
23	AFCI	Arc Fault Circuit Interrupter
24	AFL	Amps Full Load
25	AFT	Automatic Fine Tuning
26	AGC	Automatic Gain Control
27	AH	Ampere-Hour Capacity of Batteries.
28	AHU	Air Handling Unit
29	AI	Analog Input
30	AI	Artificial Intelligence
31	AIC	Ampere Interrupting Capacity
32	AL	Aluminum
33	ALCI	Appliance Leakage Current Interrupter
34	ALTC	Automatic Load Tap Changing
35	ALU	Arithmetic and Logic Unit
36	AMOLED	Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode
37	ANSI	American National Standards Institute.
38	AO	Analog Output
39	AOI	Automatic Optical Inspection
40	AP	Access Point
41	APD	Avalanche Photo Diode
42	APFC	Automatic Power Factor Control
43	API	American Petroleum Institute, Application Program Interface
44	ARM	Advanced Reduced instruction set computing Machine
45	ARMS	Arc Flash Reduction Maintenance Switch
46	ASCII	American Standard Code for Information Interchange
47	ASIC	Application Specific Integrated Circuit
48	ASK	Amplitude Shift Keying
49	ASME	American Society for Testing and Materials
50	ASP	Application Service Provider
51	ASTA	Association of Short-circuit Testing Authorities.
52	ATS	Automatic Transfer Switch
53	ATC	Automatic Temperature Control
54	ATMEL	Advanced Technology for Memory and Logic
55	AVO-M	Ampere-Volt-Ohm Meter
56	AVR	Automatic Voltage Regulator
57	AWA	Aluminum Wire Armour
58	AWG	American Wire Gauge
59	Bar (or) bar	Pressure in atmospheres.
60	BASEEFA	British Approvals Service for Electrical Equipment in Flammable Atmospheres
61	BCD	Binary Coded Decimal
62	BER	Bit Error Rate
63	BEV	Billion Electron Volts
64	BGA	Ball Grid Array
65	BIL	Breakdown insulation level
66	BJT	Bipolar Junction Transistor
67	BLAC	Brushless AC
68	BLDC	Brushless DC
69	BLDM	Brushless DC Motor
70	BOM	Bill Of Materials
71	BPF	Band Pass Filter
72	bps	Bit per second
73	Bps	Byte per second
74	BSI, BS, CP	British Standards Institution, or its publications
75	BTS	Base Transceiver Station
76	BTU	British thermal unit
77	BW	Bandwidth, (Difference between upper & lower limits of a band of frequencies)
78	C	Electrical capacitance, Conduit
79	CA	Criticality Analysis
80	CAAPS	Circuit Assembly And Processing System
81	CACA	Totally enclosed air circuit, air cooled.
82	CACW	Totally enclosed air circuit, water cooled.
83	CAD	Computer aided design.
84	CAN	Controller area network
85	CATV	Cable Television or Community Antennae Television
86	CB	Circuit breaker
87	CBCU	Circuit breaker control unit.
88	CBI	Complementary Binary, referring to a system of codes
89	CBM	Certified Ballast Manufacturer
90	CBR	Constant Bit Rate
91	CC	Constant Current
92	CCCS	Current Controlled Current Source
93	CCD	Charge-Coupled Device
94	CCR	Central control room
95	CCT	Circuit (also: CIR, CKT)
96	CCTV	Closed Circuit Television
97	CCU	Central control unit
98	CD	Candela
99	CDMA	Code Division Multiple Access
100	CEGB	Central Electricity Generating Board (UK)
101	CENELEC	European Committee for Electro technical Standardization
102	cont.	Continuous quantity
103	CFL	Compact Fluorescent Light or Compact Fluorescent Lamp
104	CG	Cable Glands
105	CIR	Circuit (also: CCT, CKT)
106	CISC	Complex Instruction Set Computer
107	CKT	Circuit (also: CCT, CIR)
108	CLF	Current Limiting Fuse
109	CMOS	Complementary Metal – Oxide Semiconductor
110	CMRR	Common Mode Rejection Ratio
111	CNC	Computer Numeric Control
112	COG	Chip-on-glass
113	COR CU	Corrugated Copper.
114	Cos Ꝋ	Power factor
115	CPLD	Complex Programmable Logic Device
116	CPT	Control Power Transformer
117	CPU	Central Processing Unit
118	CRO	Cathode Ray Oscilloscope
119	CRT	Cathode Ray Tube
120	CSA, csa	Cross-Sectional Area
121	CSI	Current Source Inverter
122	CSP	Chloro Sulphonated Polyethylene
123	CSS	Computerized Synchronizing System
124	CT	Current Transformer
125	CU	Un-tinned Copper
126	CUWB	Copper Wire Braid
127	CVT	Constant Voltage Transformer
128	DAC	Digital to Analog Converter
129	db(A)	Measurement unit of sound, Decibels, absolute.
130	dBm	Unit level for power ratio expressed in decibels (dB) with reference to one mill watt (mW)
131	DB	Distribution Board
132	DC	Direct Current or Voltage
133	DCDB	Direct Current Distribution Board
134	DCS	Distributed Control System
135	DE	Drive End of a shaft
136	DEMUX	Demultiplexer, Single input into multiple outputs
137	DIA	Diameter
138	DIMM	Dual-In-line Memory Module
139	DIN	Deutsches Institut für Normung means German Institute for Standardization
140	DIP	Dual-in-Line Package
141	DIPS	Dual-In-Line Sockets
142	DLD	Digital Logic Design
143	DLL	Delay Locked Loop
144	DMA	Direct Memory Access
145	DMM	Digital Multimeter
146	DMS	Data management system
147	DMT	Definite minimum time
148	DNC	Do Not Connect
149	DO fuse	Drop Out Fuse
150	DOL	Direct-on-line starting of induction motors.
151	DOS	Disk Operating System
152	DP	Double Pole or Distribution Panel
153	DPDT	Double Pole, Double Throw
154	DPI	Dots Per Inch
155	DPIC	Double Pole Iron Clad
156	DPM	Digital panel meter
157	DPR	Dividing Pulse Relay
158	DPST	Double Pole, Single Throw
159	DRAM	Dynamic Random Access Memory
160	DRC	Design Rule Checking
161	DSP	Differential Signal Processing
162	DTMF	Dual Tone Multi-Frequency
163	DTL	Diode Transistor Logic
164	DTSP	Discrete Time Signal Processing
165	DUT	Device Under Test
166	DVM	Digital Volt Meter
167	DWR	Divided winding rotor synchronous generator.
168	E	Earth or ground
169	EB	Equipment Branch
170	EBIC	Electron-Beam-Induced Current
171	EC	Electrical Code or Electrical Contractor or Electronic Commutator
172	ECAD	Electronic Computer-Aided Design
173	ECHA	Equipment certified for hazardous areas.
174	ECL	Emitter coupled logic
175	EEMVA	Engineering Equipment and Materials Users Association
176	EEPROM	Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
177	EF	Exhaust Fan
178	EFT	Electrical fast transient
179	EHT	Extra High Tension
180	EHV	Extra high voltage
181	EIEMA	Electrical Installation Equipment Manufacturer’s Association (UK)
182	ELCB	Earth Leakage Circuit Breaker
183	ELDC	Electric Double-Layer Capacitors (supercap)
184	ELEV	Elevator
185	ELV	Extra low voltage, less than 51 volts
186	EM	Emergency
187	EMA	Ethylene methyl acrylate
188	EMC	Electromagnetic compatibility
189	EMI	Electromagnetic interference
190	EMF, e.m.f.	Electromotive force
191	EMLDB	Emergency Lighting Distribution Board
192	EMR	Electro Mechanical Relay
193	EMT	Electrical Metallic Tubing
194	EOCR	Electronic Overcurrent Relay
195	EOS	Electrical Over Stress
196	EP	Emergency Power
197	EPDM	Ethylene propylene diene monomer
198	EPO	Emergency Power Off (Button or Switch)
199	EPR	Ethylene propylene rubber
200	EPROM	Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory
201	ERA	Electrical Research Association (UK)
202	ERM	Electronic restart module
203	ESD	Emergency shutdown, Electrostatic discharge
204	ESL	Equivalent Series Inductance
205	ESP	Electric submersible pump
206	ESR	Equivalent Series Resistance
207	EST	Extra Super Tension
208	Ex ()	Certification symbol for hazardous area equipment.
209	Ex ‘ ’	Certification symbol for hazardous area equipment.
210	EEx ()	Certification symbol for hazardous area equipment, with European harmonisation of standards.
211	EEx ‘ ’
212	EV	Electron volt, a unit of energy similar to joules
213	EWC	Electric Water Cooler
214	EWS	Engineering work station.
215	F, f or Hz	Frequency, Fuse, Farad
216	FA	Fire Alarm
217	FAA	Fire Alarm Annunciator
218	FAT	Factory acceptance testing
219	FBA	Factory built assemblies.
220	FBT	Fly back Transformer
221	FCEV	Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle
222	FCU	Feeder control unit.
223	FDM	Frequency Division Multiplexing
224	FDNR	Frequency Dependent Negative Resistor
225	F and G	Fire and Gas
226	FEED	Front-end engineering and design of a project.
227	FET	Field Effect Transistor
228	FFC	Flexible Flat Cable
229	FFT	Fast Fourier Transform
230	FIFO	First-In, First-Out (a queue)
231	FILO	First-In, Last-Out (a stack)
232	FLA	Full Load Amperes
233	Flex	Flexible, used for cables.
234	FM	Frequency Modulation
235	FMC	Flexible Metal Conduit
236	FPGA	Field-Programmable Gate Array
237	Freq	Frequency
238	FRLS	Fire Resistance Low Smoke
239	FSC	Final Sub Circuit
240	FSM	Finite State Machine
241	FSK	Frequency Shift Keying
242	FVC	Frequency to Voltage Converter
243	G or g	Electrical conductance, or ground
244	GBW	Gain Bandwidth Product
245	GCB	Gas circuit breaker.
246	GCP	Generator control panel.
247	GFCI	Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter
248	GFI	Ground Fault Interrupter
249	GIC	Generalized Impedance Converter
250	GIS	Gas insulated switchgear.
251	gm	Transconductance
252	GND	Ground
253	GO	Gang Operated
254	GOR	Gas to oil ratio of oil well fluids
255	GOS	Group Operated Switches
256	GPIO	General Purpose Input / Output
257	GPRS	General Packet Radio Service
258	GPS	Global Positioning System
259	GRMC	Galvanized Rigid Metal Conduit
260	GRP	Glass reinforced plastic.
261	GSM	Global System for Mobile Communications
262	GSWA	Galvanized steel wire armour
263	GSWB	Galvanized steel wire braid.
264	GTG or GT	Gas-turbine generator
265	GTO	Gate turn off thyristor
266	GUI	Graphic User Interface
267	HART	Highway Addressable Remote Transducer
268	HBT	Heterojunction bipolar transistor
269	HCL	Hydrogen chloride, gas or acid
270	HDMI	High-Definition Multimedia Interface
271	HED	Hall Effect Device
272	HEMT	High-electron-mobility transistor
273	HF	High frequency
274	hFE	Large-signal current gain of a BJT
275	HMI	Human Machine Interface
276	HOA	Hand-Off-Automatic Switch
277	HOFR	Heat and oil resisting, flame retardant.
278	Hp	Horse power, unit of power in fps system
279	HPF	High Pass Filter
280	HRC	High rupturing capacity
281	HT	High Tension
282	HTS	High-temperature semiconductor
283	HUI	Human User Interface
284	HV	High voltage (> 600 V)
285	HVAC	Heating ventilation and air conditioning
286	Hz	Frequency in cycles per second (Hz) hertz
287	I	Current in amperes (Amps) (A)
288	IAC or Iac	Alternating current
289	IALA	International Association of Lighthouse Authorities
290	IC	Integrated Circuit
291	ICDB	Iron Clad Distribution Board
292	ICI	Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (UK)
293	ICSP	In Circuit Serial Programming
294	ICTP	Iron Clad Triple Pole
295	IDC, Idc	Direct current
296	IDMT	Inverse definite minimum time
297	IEC	International Electrotechnical Commission
298	IEE	Institution of Electrical Engineers of UK
299	IEEE	Institute of Electronic and Electrical Engineers of USA
300	IF	Intermediate Frequency
301	IG	Isolated Ground
302	IGBT	Insulated-gate Bipolar Transistor
303	IGFET	Insulated Gate Field Effect Transistor
304	I/O	Input or output signals or quantity
305	IOT	Internet of Things
306	IMO	International Maritime Organization
307	IMC	Intermediate Metal Conduit
308	IMCS	Integrated motor control system
309	IMS	Information management system
310	inst.	Instantaneous quantity
311	INT	Interlock
312	int.	Intermittent quantity
313	IP	Institute of Petroleum (UK) and its publications
314	IP	Ingress protection code (IEC60529)
315	IPMSM	Interior Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor
316	IR	Insulation Resistance
317	IS	Intrinsically safe signal, circuit or equipment
318	Is/In, IS/IN	Ratio of starting current to running current
319	ISO	International Standards Organization
320	ISP	Internet Service Provider
321	ITU	International Telecommunication Union
322	J	Energy in joules or newton-meters
323	J	Current density, amps/mm2
324	JB	Junction Box
325	JFET	Junction field effect transistor
326	JEDEC	Joint Electron Device Engineering Council
327	kA	Kilo-amperes
328	KCL	Kirchhoff’s Current Law
329	KCMIL	Thousand Circular Mils
330	KEMA	Short circuit testing authority in The Netherlands
331	kg km kpm	Kilogram.
332	kV, Ku	Length in kilometers per hour. Kilo-volts.
333	kVA	Kilo-volt-amperes.
334	kVAr	Reactive kilo-volt-amperes.
335	KVL	Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law Kilowatts.
336	kW KWH	Kilo Watt Hour
337	L	Electrical inductance in henries
338	L	Line (Phase, Live or Hot) or local control operation
339	LA	Lightning Arrester
340	LAN	Local area network
341	lbs	Weight of a substance in pounds.
342	LCD	Liquid-crystal display
343	LDB	Lighting Distribution Board
344	LDR	Light Dependent Resistor
345	LDS	Low density foam
346	LED	Light emitting diode
347	LEL	Lower explosive limit
348	LF	Low frequency
349	LFMC	Liquid Tight Flexible Metal Conduit
350	LHS	Left-hand side
351	Li–ion	Lithium Ion, a type of rechargeable battery
352	LNA	Low noise amplifier
353	LNG	Liquefied natural gas
354	loc or (L)	Local operation
355	LOP	Loss of power
356	LOPT	Line Output Transformer
357	LOS	Loss of signal
358	LPF	Low Pass Filter
359	LPG	Liquefied petroleum gas
360	LPS	Lightning Protection System
361	LRA	Locked Rotor Amperes
362	LSB	Least Significant Bit
363	LSDS, LSS	Load shedding system
364	LSF	Low smoke & fumes, applied to cables & wires.
365	LSI	Large-scale integration
366	LSLH	Low smoke low halogen
367	LSRS, LSR	Load sharing system
368	LT	Low Tension
369	LTG	Lighting
370	LV	Low voltage, 50 to 600 volts
371	LVDT	Linear Variable Differential Transformer
372	L1, L2, L3, N	Notation for line and neutral voltages and currents.
373	LUT	Look Up Table
374	LUX	Level of illumination
375	LVDT	Linear Variable Differential Transformer
376	m	Length or dimension in meters
377	mA	Current in milli-amperes
378	MAD	Mean Annual Discharge
379	man or (M)	Manual operation
380	mbar	Milli-bar
381	MB	High-pressure mercury, without phosphor coating
382	MB	Megabyte, a computer data storage unit
383	MBB	Make-before-break
384	MBF	High-pressure mercury, with phosphor coating
385	MBFR	High-pressure mercury, with phosphor coating and internal reflector
386	MBI	High-pressure discharge with metallic halides
387	MBIF	High-pressure discharge with metallic halides, with phosphor coating
388	MBR	Double-ended linear arc tube
389	MBTF	Combination of MBF lamp and a filament lamp
390	MC	Metal Clad Cable
391	MCB	Miniature circuit breaker.
392	MCC	Motor control center
393	MCCB	Moulded case circuit breaker
394	MCM	Multi-Chip Module
395	MCP	Motor Circuit Protection
396	MCR	Maximum continuous rating
397	MCU	Motor control unit
398	MCu	Microcontroller
399	MDB	Main Distribution Board
400	MEC	Micro Energy Cell
401	MEMS	Micro ElectroMechanical Systems
402	MESFET	Metal-Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor
403	MESG	Maximum experimental safe gap
404	MF	Multiplying Factor
405	MFSK	Multiple frequency-shift keying
406	Mho	Unit of electrical admittance
407	MI	Mineral Insulated
408	MIC	Minimum ignition current
409	MICC	Mineral insulated calendar cable
410	MIDI	Musical Instrument Digital Interface
411	MIMIC	Mimic display panel
412	MISO	Master Input Slave Output
413	MLDB	Main Lighting Distribution Board
414	MLO	Main Lugs Only
415	mm	Length or dimension in millimeters
416	MMF, mmf	Magneto-motive force
417	MMI	Man–machine interface.
418	MMSCF	Million standard cubic feet of a gas
419	Mole %	Molecular weight in %
420	MOSFET	Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor
421	MOSI	Master Output Slave Input
422	MOV	Metal oxide varistor
423	MPCB	Motor Protection Circuit Breaker
424	MPDB	Main Power Distribution Board
425	MPPT	Maximum Power Point Tracking
426	MPU	Microprocessor
427	MS	Main Switch
428	MSB	Most Significant Bit
429	MSW	Module steelwork
430	MT	Mica glass tape
431	MTBF	Mean time between failures
432	MTTR	Mean time to repair
433	MUX	Multiplexer, several analog or digital inputs into single output
434	MV	Medium voltage
435	mV	Voltage in millivolts
436	MVA	Mega-volt-amperes
437	MVAr	Reactive mega-volt-amperes
438	MW	Megawatts
439	N or n	Number of turns in a winding
440	N or n	Neutral terminal or line Neutral
441	NACE	National Association of Corrosion Engineers (USA)
442	NBR	Nitrile butadiene rubber
443	NC, N/C	Normally closed switching device, No Connection
444	NCT	Neutral Current Transformer
445	NDE	Non-drive end of a shaft.
446	NEC	National Electric Code (USA)
447	NEMA	The National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association (USA)
448	NER	Neutral earth resistor.
449	NFPA	National Fire Protection Association (USA)
450	Ni	Nickel metal
451	NL	Neutral Link, Night Light
452	NO, N/O	Normally open switching device
453	NOx	Nitrogen based gas emissions.
454	NPR	Noise-power ratio
455	NS	Type of variable speed AC motor
456	NTC	Negative Temperature Coefficient
457	NTS	Not to scale
458	NVM	Non Volatile Memory
459	O	Open, off or stop
460	OC, O/C	Overcurrent or open circuit
461	OCB	Oil circuit breaker
462	OCTC	On-circuit Tap Changer
463	OCV	Open Circuit Voltage
464	OF, O/F	Over frequency
465	OFAF	Forced circulation of internal liquid, forced heat exchanging to external air.
466	OFAN	Forced circulation of internal liquid, natural heat exchanging to external air
467	Ohms	Unit of electrical resistance or impedance
468	OHL	OHLine Overhead line
469	OIM	Offshore installation manager
470	OL, O/L	Overload
471	OLED	Organic light-emitting diode
472	OLP	Overload Protection
473	OLR	Overload Relay
474	OLTC	On-load Tap Changer
475	ONAF	Naturally circulated internal liquid, forced heat exchanging to external air
476	ONAN	Naturally circulated internal liquid, natural heat exchanging to external air
477	OpAmp	Operational Amplifier
478	OSC	Oscillator
479	OSHA	Occupational Health and Safety Administration (USA)
480	OTA	Operational Transconductance Amplifier
481	OV, O/V	Overvoltage.
482	OVP	Overvoltage Protector
483	P or W	Active power, watts, Pole
484	p, s	Laplace operator in mathematics, for transfer functions
485	P & ID	Piping and instrument diagram
486	PAL	Programmable Array Logic
487	PAM	Pulse or pole amplitude modulation
488	PB	Push Button or Panic Button or Pull Box
489	PB, Pb	Lead metal
490	PBWB	Phosphor bronze wire braid
491	PBCU, TCU	Tinned copper
492	PC	Programmable controller, Program counter; used in microcontroller
493	PCB	Printed circuit board
494	PCC	Point of common connection, Power Control Centre
495	PCM	Pulse-code modulation
496	PDA	Personal digital assistant
497	PDB	Power Distribution Board
498	PDM	Pulse density modulation
499	PDP	Power Distribution Panel
500	PEC	PhotoElectric Cell
501	PELV	An extra-low voltage system similar to SELV but connected to earth at some point
502	PF, pf	Power factor
503	PFD	Phase/frequency detector
504	PFM	Pulse Frequency Modulation
505	PGA	Programmable Gain Amplifier
506	Ph, ph	Phases of an electrical circuit
507	PID	Proportional, Integral, Derivative
508	PIR	Passive Infrared Sensors
509	PIV	Peak Inverse Voltage
510	pk, peak	Peak value of an instantaneous quantity
511	PLA	Programmable logic array
512	PLC	Programmable logic controller
513	PLCC	Plastic Leaded Chip Carrier
514	PLL	Phase-Locked Loop
515	PM	Permanent Magnet
516	PMIC	Power Management Integrated
517	pMOS	P-channel metal-oxide semiconductor
518	PMS	Power management system
519	PMSM	Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor
520	PNL	Panel
521	POL	Polyethylene, Point-of-load
522	POR	Power-on reset
523	Pot	Potentiometer
524	POV	Peak Operating Voltage
525	PPM	Pulse Position Modulation, Parts Per Million
526	PRC	Parasitic resistance cancellation
527	PRV	Peak Reverse Voltage
528	PSI	Pounds per Square Inch
529	PSK	Phase Shift Keying
530	PSR	Power-supply rejection
531	PSRR	Power Supply Rejection Ratio
532	PT	Potential Transformer
533	PTC	Positive Temperature Coefficient
534	Pu, p.u.	Per unit
535	PUT	Programmable Unijunction Transistor
536	PV	PhotoVoltaic
537	PVC	Polyvinyl chloride
538	PVDF PWD	Polyvinylidene fluoride Pulse-width distortion
539	PWM	Pulse width modulation
540	PWR	Power
541	Q	Reactive power, volt-amperes-reactive, Charge
542	QA	Quality assurance
543	QAM	Quadrature amplitude modulation
544	QC	Quality control
545	QFP	Quad Flat Package
546	QTY	Quantity
547	R or r	Electrical resistance
548	Rad, rad RADAR RAM	Angular displacement in radians Radio Detection and Ranging
549	RCBO	Random access memory
550		Residual Current Circuit Breaker with Overload Protection
551	RCCB	means Residual Current Circuit Breaker
552	RCD	Residual current device
553	RCU	Remote control unit
554	RDOL	Reverse Duty On Line Starter
555	rem or (R)	Remote operation
556	REQ	Required
557	RF	Radio Frequency, describing the rate of oscillation
558	RFDS	Radio frequency design system
559	RFID	Radio Frequency Identification
560	RGS	Rigid Galvanized Steel Conduit
561	RHS	Right-hand side
562	RIO	Remote Input Output
563	RISC	Reduced Instruction Set Computer
564	RJ45	Registered Jack 45. An 8 pin Ethernet Jack
565	RLA	Rated Load Amperes
566	RLC	Resistance Inductance Capacitance
567	RMC	Rigid Metal Conduit
568	RMS, rms	Root mean square
569	RMU	Ring main unit
570	RNC	Rigid Non-Metallic Conduit
571	ROM	Read only memory
572	RPR	Reverse Power Relay
573	RPS	Revolutions per Second
574	RPM	Revolutions per Minute
575	RSC	Rigid Steel Conduit
576	RTC	Real-time clock
577	RTD	Resistance temperature detector
578	RTOS	Real Time Operating System
579	RTS	Remote Test Station
580	RTU	Remote transmitter unit, Roof Top Unit
581	Rx	Receiver
582	RYB	Red, Yellow, Blue (Old Color Codes used for three phase Wiring – UK)
583	S	Apparent power in volt-amperes
584	S	Slip of a rotating machine with respect to 1.0 pu
585	SB	Switch Board
586	SC, S/C	Short circuit
587	SCADA	Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition System
588	SCF	Standard cubic feet of a gas
589	SCIM	Squirrel Cage Induction Motor
590	SCK	Serial Clock
591	SCR	Silicon Controlled Rectifier
592	SCS	Silicon Controller Switch
593	SCSI	Small Computer System Interface
594	SDR	Single discipline review
595	SEB	Service End Line Box or Service Electrical Box
596	SECT	Skin effect current trace heating
597	SELV	Safety extra-low voltage
598	SFU	Switch Fuse Unit
599	SF6	Sulphur hexafluoride
600	SI	System International of Unit’s
601	SIM	Subscriber identity module
602	SIO	Serial Input and (serial) Output
603	SIPO	Serial In Parallel Out
604	SLDB	Secondary Lighting Distribution Board
605	SLI	Double-ended, linear arc tube
606	SMD	Surface Mount Device
607	SMPS	Switch-mode power supply
608	SMSB	Sub Main Switchboard
609	SMT	Surface mount technologies
610	SNR	Signal-to-Noise Ratio
611	SoC	System on a Chip
612	SOIC	Small Outline Integrated Circuit
613	SON	Diffused ellipsoidal outer bulb, single-ended lamp
614	SONAR	SOund NAvigation and Ranging
615	SON-T	Clear tubular outer bulb, single-ended lamp
616	SON-TD, – L	Clear tubular outer bulb, double-ended lamp
617	SON-R	SON lamp, with internal reflector
618	SOT	Small outline transistor
619	SOX	U-shaped arc tube, single-ended lamp
620	Sox	Sulphur based gas emissions
621	SP	Single phase
622	SPDT	Single Pole Double Throw
623	SPI	Serial Peripheral Interface
624	SPICE	Simulation Program with Integrated Circuit Emphasis
625	SPMSM	Surface Permanent magnet Synchronous Motor
626	SPST	Single Pole Single Throw
627	SPT	Stranded Parallel Thermoplastic
628	sq	Square, e.g. sq mm is square millimeters
629	SR	Shift Register, Slew Rate
630	SRAM	Static Random Access Memory
631	SRF	Self-resonant frequency
632	SRIM	Slip Ring Induction Motor
633	SRM	Switched Reluctance Motor
634	SSB	Single SideBand
635	SSI	Small Scale Integration
636	SSR	Solid State Relay, Synchronization check protection relay
637	ST	Super Tension, Shunt Trip
638	STA	Steel Tape Armour
639	STG	Steam turbine generator
640	STP	Shielded Twisted Pair
641	STR	Statimax Trip Release
642	STR CU	Stranded copper
643	SW	Switch, Shortwave, as in the case with shortwave bands
644	SWA	Steel wire armour
645	SWBD	Switchboard
646	SWG	Standard Wire Gauge
647	SWGR	Switchgear
648	SYNC, Sync	Synchronizing
649	SYM	Symmetrical
650	SyRM	Synchronous Reluctance Motor
651	T or t	Time, usually in seconds
652	TB	Terminal Block
653	Td	Time constant in seconds for the quantity ‘d’
654	TC	Temperature Coefficient
655	TCP/IP	Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol
656	TDRM	Time delayed restart relay
657	TEFC	Totally enclosed fan cooled
658	TEM	Transverse Electromagnetic (wave)
659	temp.	Temperature
660	TESFC	Totally enclosed separate fan cooled, fan attached to an auxiliary motor Shaft
661	T/F	Transformer
662	TFD	Thin Film Detector
663	TFT	Thin Film Transistor
664	TG	Turbo-generator, gas or steam
665	TGB	Telecommunications Grounding Bus bar
666	THD	Total Harmonic Distortion
667	TOP	Gas-turbine operating temperature (hot-end blade temperature)
668	TM	Technical measurement system of units
669	TMCB	Thermal Magnetic Circuit Breaker
670	TCP	Gas-turbine control panel
671	TLX	Cold starting tubular fluorescent lamp, with single-pin caps
672	TPDT	Triple Pole Double Throw
673	TPIC	Triple Pole Iron Clad
674	TPN	Three-phase and neutral power supply
675	TPPL	Total plant peak load
676	TPRL	Total plant running load
677	TPS	Triple Pole Switch
678	TPST	Triple Pole Single Throw
679	Tran., Tx	Transformer
680	TRS	Tough Rubber Sheathed
681	TTL	Transistor-Transistor Logic
682	TVS-Diode	Transient Voltage Suppression Diode
683	Tx	Transmitter
684	U	Voltage, also used for energy
685	UART	Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter
686	UC, U/C	Undercurrent
687	UCP	Unit control panel
688	UDS	Uniform Drawing System
689	UEL	Upper explosive limit
690	UF, U/F	Under frequency
691	UG	Under Ground
692	UHF	Ultra-high frequency
693	UI, U/I	Undercurrent
694	UJT	Unijunction Transistor
695	UL, U/L	Under load
696	UL	Underwriters Laboratory (USA)
697	UVLO	Under voltage lockout
698	UNO	Unless noted otherwise
699	UPS	Uninterruptible power supply unit
700	USART	Universal Synchronous and Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter
701	USB	Universal Serial Bus
702	UTP	Unshielded Twisted Pair
703	UV, U/V	Under voltage
704	V, U	Voltage (or) volts
705	VA	Volt-amperes
706	VAC, Vac	Alternating voltage
707	VAr, Var	Reactive volt-amperes
708	VCA	Voltage Controlled Amplifier
709	VCB	Vacuum Circuit Breaker
710	VCC	Voltage at the common collector
711	VCCS	Voltage Controlled Current Source
712	VCD	Variable Capacitance Diode
713	VCO	Voltage Controlled Oscillator
714	VCXO	Voltage-Controlled Crystal Oscillator
715	VDC, Vdc	Direct voltage
716	VDE	Verband Deutscher Electrechniker (Germany).
717	VDI	Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (Germany).
718	VDU	Visual display unit
719	VFD	Variable Frequency Drive, Vacuum Fluorescent Display
720	VFDP	Variable Frequency Drive Panel
721	VFO	Variable-frequency oscillator
722	VGA	Video Graphics Adapter
723	VHF	Very high frequency
724	VIR	Vulcanized Indian Rubber
725	VLSI	Very Large Scale Integration
726	VOM	Volt Ohm Meter, a device also known as a millimeter or multitester
727	VSD, VSDS	Variable speed drive systems
728	VSI	Voltage source inverter
729	VSWR	Voltage Standing Wave Ratio
730	V.T., VT	Voltage transformer
731	v/v	Comparison by volume, per-unit
732	VVVF	Variable Voltage Variable Frequency Drive
733	W or P w or ω wdg.	Active power, watts
734		Frequency in radians per second.
735		Winding of a machine or transformer
736	WHRU	Waste heat recovery unit
737	WLAN	Wireless Local Area Network
738	WRIM	Wound Rotor Induction Motor
739	WRSM	Wound Rotor Synchronous Motor
740	WSN	Wireless Sensor Network
741	X	Electrical reactance
742	XFMR	Transformer
743	XLPA	Cross-linked polyalkene
744	XLPE	Cross-linked polyethylene
745	XO	Crystal Oscillator
746	Y	Electrical admittance (Also used for Star Connection)
747	Z	Electrical impedance
748	ZH	Zero halogen, as used for cables
749	ZVC	Zero voltage crossing
750	ZVS	Zero voltage switching

Numerical Electrical Abbreviations

S.NO	Electrical Abbreviation	Full Form
1	1P, SP	Single phase
2	3P	Three-phase supply
3	3P-N	Three-phase and neutral supply
4	3P-N-E	Three-phase neutral and earth supply
5	2W	Two-wire supply
6	3W	Three-wire supply
7	4W	Four-wire supply
8	3G	Third Generation
9	3R3	3.3 ohm Resistor
10	4K	4,000 pixels
11	4P4T	Quad-Pole Quad-Throw
12	4WJ	Four-Way Junction

Common Electrical Abbreviations

Alphabetical Electrical Abbreviations

Numerical Electrical Abbreviations

POPULAR POSTS

KW TO KVA CALCULATOR

Single Phase Motor Capacitor Calculator

Online Electrical Calculators Collection

POPULAR CATEGORY

Switch Types & their Working Principle

Battery Testing Procedure

RCD (Residual Current Device) Testing Procedure