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 ‘ ’ | |
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 |