Abbreviations & Acronyms
Abbreviation:
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or a phrase (group of words).
The result of abbreviation is a reduced form or abridgement of writing. They are commonly used because they save time and space.
As said by John Horne Tooke, “Abbreviations are the wheels of language, the wings of Mercury.
Examples:
ATM = Automated Teller Machine
BBC = British Broadcasting Corporation
Acronym:
It is a word formed from the initial letters of the several words in the name and pronounced as one word.
Examples:
NASA = National Aeronautics and Space Administration (USA)
AIDS = Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.
Most Common Abbreviations & Acronyms with the letter – H
H
| H | Height / Hospital / Hearts (cards) / Heroin (slang) / Hydrant / Hungary (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) |
| h | Hecto- / Hour / Hot / Husband |
| ha | Hectare / hoc anno (Latin) = in this year |
| Ha | Hahnium (symbol) (Chemistry) |
| HAART | Highly active antiretroviral therapy (a treatment for HIV/AIDS |
| Hag | (the book of) Haggai (Bible) |
| HB | Hard Black (on lead pencil) |
| Hb | Hemoglobin (symbol) |
| HBC | Hudson’s Bay Company |
| HBM | Her (or His) Britannic Majesty) |
| HBO | Hyperbaric oxygen |
| HC | House of Commons / Holy Communion / Heralds’ College |
| HCF | Highest Common Factor / Honorary Chaplin to the Forces |
| HCFCs | Hydrochlorofluorocarbons |
| HCG | Human chorionic Gonadotrophin |
| HCM | Her of His Catholic Majesty |
| hcp | Handicap |
| HD | Heavy duty |
| HDA | Health Development Agency |
| HDD | Hard Disc Drive |
| HDL | High-density lipoprotein |
| HDMI | High-definition multimedia interface |
| hdqrs | Headquarters |
| HDTV | High-definition television |
| HE | High Explosive / His Eminence / His Excellence |
| He | Helium (symbol) (Chemistry) |
| HEA | Health Education Authority (now replaced by HDA = Health Development Agency) |
| HEFCE | Higher Education Funding Council for England |
| HEFCS | Higher Education Funding Council for Scotland |
| HEFCW | Higher Education Funding Council for Wales |
| hf | Half |
| HF | High Frequency |
| HFC | Hydrofluorocarbon |
| HFEA | Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority |
| hg | Hectogram(s) |
| HG | High German / His or Her Grace |
| Hg | Hydrargum (Latin) = Mercury (symbol) (Chemistry) |
| HGH | Human growth hormone |
| HGV | Heavy goods vehicle (now replaced by LGV) |
| hh | Hands |
| HH | His Holiness / His or Her Highness |
| HH or 2H | Very hard (on lead pencils) |
| HI | Hawaii (US state) / Hawaiian Islands |
| HIE | Highland and Islands Enterprise |
| hi-fi/Hi-Fi | High-fidelity (sound reproduction) |
| HIH | His or Her Imperial Highness |
| HIM | His or Her Imperial Majesty |
| HIP | (both abbreviation & acronym) Home information pack (house documents required to sell it) |
| HIPC | Highly indebted poor countries |
| HIV | Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1 & HIV-2 strains) |
| HK | Hong Kong (not in official use; IVR) / House of Keys (the Manx parliament) |
| HKJ | Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (IVR) |
| hl | Hectoliters |
| HL | House of Lords |
| hm | Hectometer |
| HM | His or Her Majesty(‘s) |
| HMA | High Memory Area (Computing) |
| HMAS | His or Her Majesty’s Australian Ship |
| HMC | His or Her Majesty’s Customs / Head master’s and Headmistresses’ Conference |
| HMCS | His or Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship |
| HIG | His or Her Majesty’s Government |
| HMI | His or Her Majesty’s Inspector or Inspectorate / Horizontal Motion Index (Computing) |
| HMIE | Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (a Scottish regulatory body) |
| HMIE | His or Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Pollution (now replaced by EA) |
| HMP | His or Her Majesty’s Prison / Hoc monumentum posuit (Latin) = Erected this monument |
| HMRC | His or Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs |
| HMS | His or Her Majesty’s Service or Ship |
| HMSO | His or Her Majesty’s Stationery Office (now replaced by OPSI) |
| HN | Honduras (IVR) |
| HNC | Higher National Certificate |
| HND | Higher National Diploma |
| HO | Hostilities only (Royal Navy service during wartime) |
| Ho | Holmium (symbol) (Chemistry) |
| ho. | House |
| HOLMES | (acronym) home Office Large and Major Enquiry System (computer database of information) |
| HP | House of Parliament / High Priest / Half pay / Hire purchase / High pressure |
| hp | Horsepower |
| HPC | Health Professions Council |
| HPV | Human papilloma virus |
| HQ / hq | Headquarters |
| hr | Hour |
| HR | Human resources / Home Rule / House of Representatives (US) / Hrvatska = Croatia (IVR) |
| HRE | Holy Roman Emperor or Empire |
| HRH | His or Her Royal Highness |
| HRT | Hormone replacement therapy |
| hs | Hoc sensu (Latin) = in this sense |
| HS | Home Secretary / High School |
| Hs | Hassium (symbol) (Chemistry) |
| HSE | Health and Safety Executive |
| Hse | House (written in addresses) |
| HSH | His or Her Serene Highness |
| HSM | His or Her Serene Majesty |
| HST | High-speed train / Hawaii Standard Time / Hubble Space Telescope |
| ht | Height |
| HT | High tension |
| HTH | Hope this helps (used in internet forums) (informal) |
| HTLV | Human T-cell lymphotrophic virus |
| HTML | Hypertext mark-up language (used for world wide web – www) |
| HTTP | Hypertext transfer protocol |
| HTTPS | Hypertext transfer protocol secure (used in internet sites’ addresses) |
| HUD | Head-up display |
| HUGO | (acronym) Human Genome Optimization |
| HUMINT | (acronym) Human Intelligence (the branch of military intelligence) |
| HV / hv | High voltage |
| HWM | High water mark |
| Hz | Hertz (SI unit frequency) (symbol) |
Abbreviations & Acronyms in Alphabetical Order – Click the Letter
