Panama (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) / Pennsylvania (also Pa.) / Personal appearance / Personal assistant / Press association / Public address (system) / Production assistant / Publicity agent / Publishers association / Power amplifier / Pierre Allain (French) = mountaineer designer / Parental Accompaniment (Canadian) / Prince Albert (Saskatchewan)
pa
Papa (familiar word for father) / per annum (also p.a.)
Parochial church council / The Presbyterian Church (Canada) / Press Complaints Commission
PCM
Pulse code modulation
pcm
Per calendar month
PCMCIA
Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (Computing)
PCN
Personal communication network (mobile telephone network)
p-code
Pseudocode (Computing)
PCP
Pentachlorophenol (water-insoluble environmental pollutant) / Phencyclidine (Pharmacology) / Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (a fatal lung infection and the main cause of death among AIDS patients) (Medicine)
Principal Clerk of Session / personal communications service / Public and Commercial Services (Union)
pct
Per cent (US)
PCT
Primary-care trust (in the National Health Service) (UK)
PCV
Passenger-carrying vehicle (UK)
PCY
Prerogative Court of York
pd
Potential difference (Electricity)
PD
Police Department (US) / potential difference (Electricity) / Pretty damn quick (slang) / Preventive detention or detainee
Pd
Palladium (Chemistry)
pd.
Paid
PDA
Personal digital assistant
PDC
Programme delivery control (coded signal of a television program)
PDF
Portable Document Format (file format for computers to be read by different operating systems)
PDI
Pre-delivery inspection
PDL
Page description language (Computing)
PDQ / pdq
Pretty damn quick (informal) = as soon as possible
PDSA
People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (UK)
PE
Peru (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) / Physical education / Potential energy / Prince Edward Island (Canadian province) / Protestant Episcopal / Plastic explosive (also pe.)
Poet Laureate / Poland (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) / Programming language (computing) / Public Library
Pl
Place (in street names, etc.)
P&L / P & L
Profit and loss (account)
PLA
People’s Liberation Army / Port of London Authority
PLO
Palestine Liberation Organization
PM
Prime Minister / Post-mortem (Latin) = after death (also pm / Provost Marshal / Postmaster / Past Master
pm
(also p.m.) post meridiem (Latin) = after noon / Premium
Pm
Promethium (Chemistry)
p.m.
Post meridiem / Post-mortem
PMBX
Private mutual branch exchange
PMDD
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder
PMG
Paymaster General / Postmaster General
PMO
Prime Minister’s Office / Principal Medical Officer
Pmr
Paymaster
PMRAFNS
Princess Mary’s Royal Air Force Nursing Service
PMS
Premenstrual Syndrome
PMT
Photomechanical transfer / Premenstrual tension
pn
Promissory note
PNA
Palestinian National Authority / Peptide nucleic acid
PND
Postnatal depression
PNdB
Perceived noise decibel
PNE
Papua New Guinea
pneu
Pneumonia / pneumatic tyre / a letter dispatched by Parisian pneumatic dispatch system
PNEU
Parents’ National Education Union
PNG
Papua New Guinea (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) / (ping) portable network graphic [graphical format on world wide web (www)]
po.
Pole
PO
Petty Officer / Pilot Officer / Postal Order (also po) / Post Office / Purchase Oder
Po
Polonium
P&O / P and O
Peninsular and Oriental (Steam Navigation Company)
POA
Prison Officers’ Association (UK)
POD / pod
Pay on delivery / Post Office Department (US) / print-on-demand
POE
Port of Entry
P. of W.
Prince of Wales
POW
Prisoner of war
pp
Pages / Per procurationem (Latin) = by proxy / (also) per pro(Latin) = for and on behalf of) / Pianissimo (music) / Past participle
PP
Parish priest / past president / present pupil
pp.
Pages
p&p/p and p
Postage and packing
PPA
Pre-school Playgroups Association (now known as PLA = Pre-school Learning Alliance)
PPARC
Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (now replaced by STFC = Science and Technology Facilities Council)
ppc
Picture postcard
PPC
Pour Prendre conge (French) = to take leave / Prospective parliamentary candidate / pay-per-click
PPCLI
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry regiment (Canadian)
PPE
Philosophy, Politics and Economics (a course at Oxford University)
PPI
Plan Position Indicator (in radar) / portion pump inhibitor / Payment protection insurance (a form of insurance) (Britain)
ppi
Pixels per inch (Computing) (display resolution)
ppl
People (informal)
PPLO
Pleuropneumonia-like organism(s)
ppm
Parts per million / Pianissimo (very softly – music) / pages per minute (printer’s speed)
PPP
Public-Private Partnership / Private Patient’s Plan / Pakistan People’s Party / Point to point protocol (Computing) / Purchasing power parity (Economics)
PPS
Parliamentary Private Secretary / Post postscriptum (Latin) = an additional postscript
PQ
Province of Quebec (Canada) / Parti Quebecois (French) = Quebec Party
PR
Press release / Prize ring / Public Relations / Puerto Rico (Rican) (US) / Proportional representation
pr
Pair / Per / Per rectum (Latin) (Medicine) = through the rectum
pr.
Present / Price
Pr.
Priest / Prince / Provencal
Pr
Praseodymium (chemical element)
PRA
President of Royal Academy of Arts / Progressive retinal atrophy (dogs’ disease)
PS
Postscriptum (Latin) = Postscript / (Royal) Pharmaceutical Society / Police Sergeant / Private Secretary / Prompt side (theatre) / Philological Society / Public School (US) / Power steering / Pferdestarke (German) = horsepower (now esp. metric horsepower)
Ps.
Psalm or psalms (also Psa./Pss.) / (the book of) Psalms (Bible)
ps
Picosecond(s)
PSA
Public Services Authority / Property Services Agency (formerly) / Pleasant Sunday afternoon / Public service announcement (US) / Prostate-specific antigen (blood test to detect prostate cancer)
PSAC
Public Service Alliance of Canada
PSHE
Personal, social, and health education (school subject)
psi / p.s.i.
Pounds per square inch
PST
Provincial sales tax (Canadian) / Pacific Standard Time
PSTN
Public Switched Telephone Network
PSV
Public service vehicle
PSW
Psychiatric social worker
PT
Pacific Time / Postal Telegraph / Personal trainer or training / Physical therapy / Physical training / Pupil teacher / Purchase tax (historical)
pt / Pt.
Part / Past / Past tense / Pint or pints / Point / Port (side of a ship or aircraft) / Post-town / Portuguese
Pt
Platinum (Chemistry)
PTA
Parent-Teacher Association / Passenger Transport Authority
pta
Peseta
PTE
Passenger Transport Executive
Pte
Private / Private soldier (commerce and military)
PTFE
Polytetrafluoroethylene
PTI
Physical training instructor / Press Trust of India
PTH
Parathyroid hormone
PTO
Please turn over (the page) / Public Telecommunications Operator / Power take-off (in a vehicle e.g. tractor)
PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (medicine)
PTT
Post, Telegraph and Telephone / Telecommunications / Postes, Telegraphes et Telephones (French) (formerly) / Postes, Telecommunications et Telediffusion (French)
Pty / pty.
Proprietary (in the name of a company) (Australia, NA & S.Africa)
Pu
Plutonium (symbol) (chemical element)
PU
Pick-up
pu
Pulled up (horse-racing)
pub
(informal) Public house
Pub. Doc.
Public document
PUO
Pyrexia of unknown origin
PVA
Polyvinyl acetate / Polyvinyl alcohol
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride
PVFS
Post viral fatigue syndrome
PVR
Personal video recorder
PVS
Persistent (or permanent) vegetative state / Post viral syndrome
Pvt.
Private (in company names) (US army)
PW
Policewoman
pw / p.w.
Per week
PWA
Person with AIDS (US) (PWAs – plural)
PWC
Personal watercraft
PWD
Public Works Department
PWR
Pressurized water reactor
PWS
Prader-Willi syndrome
pwt
Pennyweight
PWV
Pretoria-Witwatersrand-Vereeniging
PWYC
Pay what you can (Canadian) (for audience at theatrical shows)
PX
Post and exchange / Post Exchange (shop at a US military camp)
pxt
Pinxit (Latin) = painted (this)
PY
Paraguay (IVR – International Vehicle Registration)
Abbreviations & Acronyms in Alphabetical Order – Click the Letter
