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 ‘R’
R
R / R.
Rand (South African currency) / Rector / River / Rupee(s) / Rabbi / Rex = King (Latin) / Regina = Queen) (Latin) / Rook (in chess) / Ruble(s) / Run(s) (cricket) / Republican (US) / Rontgen unit / Rx = Recipere (Latin) or Recipe = to take (medical prescription) Reaumur (medicine) / Reaumur’s thermometric scale (also Reau) / Radius / Railway / Restricted (US film classification) / Rex.=right / Reverse (gear shift) / Roentgen / Royal (organizations’ names) / Radical (chemical formula) / Gas constant (Physical Chemistry) / Rydberg constant (Physics) / Regiment / Response / Rain (logbook) / R = 80 /and/ R– = 80000 (medieval Roman symbols) / recto / right / (Electrical) Resistance / ®=Registered (trade mark) / Rangers or Rovers (in names of sports club) / Romania (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) /
r / r.
Right / Recto / Run(s) / Radius / Recipe (Latin) = take / Rule (Law)
R18
A film restricted to viewers that below 18 years may not be allowed.
RA
Rear Admiral / Rheumatoid arthritis / Royal Artillery / Royal Academician / Royal Academy of Arts / Republic of Argentina (IVR) / Right ascension (Astronomy)
Ra
Radium (Chemistry)
R&A/R and A
Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
RAAF
Royal Australian Air Force
RAC
Royal Armoured Corps (UK0 / Royal Automobile Club (UK)
RAD
Reflex anal dilatation / Royal Academy of Dance
rad
Radian (singular & plural) / radiator
RADA
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (UK)
RADAR
(acronym) Radio Association for Disability and Rehabilitation / Radio Detection and Ranging /
RADC
Royal Army Dental Corps
RAdm
Rear Admiral (Canadian)
RAE
Royal Aircraft Establishment
RAEC
Royal Army Educational Corps (now replaced by ETS = Educational and Training Services)
RAeS
Royal Aeronautical Society
RAF
Abbreviation & acronym) Royal Air Force
RAID
Redundant Array of Inexpensive (or Independent) Disks
RAM
Random access memory
r.a.m.
Relative atomic mass
RAMC
Royal Army Medical Corps
RAN
Royal Australian Navy
R&A/R and A
Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews
R & D
(also R and D) Research and Development
RAOC
Royal Army Ordnance Corps
RAPC
Royal Army Pay Corps
R and R
Rest and relaxation (or recreation) (US) (informal)
RAS
Royal Astronomical Society
RAuxAF
Royal Auxiliary Air Force
RAVC
Royal Army Veterinary Corps
RAX
Rural Automatic Exchange
R&B / R’n’B
Rhythm and blues (a kind of pop music) / (Department of) Roads & Buildings
RB
Rifle Brigade (formerly) / Republic of Botswana (IVR = International Vehicle Registration)
Rb
Rubidium (chemical element)
RBI
Reserve Bank of India / Run batted in
RBC
Red blood cell (count) (Medicine)
RBE
Relative biological effectiveness (of radiation)
R-boot
Raumboot minesweeper (German) = a German minesweeper in the Second World War
RBI
Reserve Bank of India / Run batted in
RBMK reactor
Reaktor bolshoy moshchnosti kanalnyy (Russian) = high power channel reactor
RC
Red Cross / Roman Catholic (church) / Reinforced concrete / Taiwan (official name Republic of China (IVR) / Resistance/Capacitance or Resistor/capacitor (Electronics)
RCA
Radio Corporation of America (US) / Royal Canadian Academy / Royal College of Art / Republique Centrafricaine (IVR) = Central African Republic
RCAF
Royal Canadian Air Force
RCB
Republic of Congo (IVR)
RCC
Roman Catholic Church
RCD
Residual current device (Electricity)
RCGP
Royal College of General Practitioners
RCH
Republic of Chile (IVR)
RCM
Regimental Court-martial (abolished in 1955) / Royal College of Music (UK)
RCMP
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
RCN
Royal College of Nursing / Royal Canadian Navy (formerly) (now replaced by CFMC = Canadian Forces Maritime Command)
RCO
Royal College of Organists
RCOG
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
RCP
Royal College of Physicians
RCPS
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons
RCR
Royal College of Radiologists
RCS
Royal College of Science / Royal College of Surgeons / Royal Corps of Signals
RCSLT
Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
RCT
Royal Corps of Transport (now replaced by RLC = Royal Logistics Corps)
RCU
Remote control unit
RCVS
Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
RD
Reserve Decoration (Naval) / Rural Dean / Refer to drawer (written on returned bank cheque)
rd
Rutherford
Rd
Road (in addresses)
R&D
Research and development
RDA
Recommended daily (or dietary) allowance
RDC
Rural Development Council
RDF
Radio direction-finding (or –finder) / Refused-derived fuel
RDI
Recommended daily intake (for a vitamin, mineral, etc.)
rDNA
Recombinant DNA (DNA = Deoxyribonucleic acid)
RDS
Radio data system (broadcasting digital signal system)
RDX
Research Department Explosive (also called cyclonite) (a type of high explosive)
RE
Reformed Episcopal / Religious education (in schools) / Royal Engineers / Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (formerly known as the RSEE = Royal Society of Etchers and Engravers)
Re
Rhenium (chemical element) / Rupee (also re) /
RF
Radio frequency / Republique francaise (French)=French Republic / Representative fraction (of a map)
Rf
Rutherfordium (chemical element)
rf
Rinforzando (music)
RFA
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
RFC
Royal Flying Corps (until 1918) / Rugby Football Club / Request For Comment (Computing)
RFID
Radio Frequency Identification (a method of storing and retrieving information by radio signals)
RFS
Register of Friendly Societies (now replaced by FSA)
RFU
Rugby Football Union
RG
Republic of Guinea (IVR = International Vehicle Registration)
Rg
Roentgenium (chemical element)
RGB
Republic of Guinea-Bissau (IVR-International Vehicle Registration) / Red-Green-Blue
RGN
Registered General Nurse
RGS
Royal Geographical Society (now often RGS-IBG (an amalgamation with the Institute of British Geographers)
Rgt
Regiment
RGV
Remote Guidance Vehicle
RH
Republic of Haiti (IVR-International Vehicle Registration) / Royal Highness
Royal Hibernian Academy / Royal Horse Artillery / Regional Health Authority (replaced by DHSC = Directorate of Health and Social Care)
RHD
Right-hand Drive
RHG
Royal Horse Guards
RHR
Royal Highland Regiment (in Canada)
RHS
Royal Historical Society / Royal Horticulture Society / Royal Humane Society
RI
Regina et Imperatrix (Latin) = Queen and Empress / Rex et Imperator (Latin) = King and Emperor / Religious Instruction / Rhode Island (US state) / (member of the) Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours / Republic of Indonesia (IVR-International Vehicle Registration) / Royal Institute or Institution (Great Britain)
RIA
Royal Irish Academy / Radioimmunoassay
RIAM
Royal Irish Academy of Music
RIAS
Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland
RIBA
Royal Institute of British Architects
RIC
Royal Irish Constabulary (historical)
RICO
(abbreviation & acronym) Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations
RICS
Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
RIE
Recognized Investment Exchanges
RIGS
Regionally Important Geological Site
RIIA
Royal Institute of International Affairs
RIM
(Republique Islamique de Mauritania) Maritaunia (IVR)
RIP
Requiescat in pace (Latin) = Rest in peace
RIPA
(abbreviation & acronym) Royal Institute of Public Administration (now defunct)
RIPH
Royal Institute of Public Health
RIR
Royal Irish Regiment (UDR = Ulster Defence Regiment)
RISC
Reduced Instruction Set Computer (faster processing central computer)
rit.
Retardando / Ritenuto (music)
RJE
Remote Job Entry (Computing)
RJET
Remote Job Entry Terminal (Computing)
RK
Religious Knowledge
RKO
Radio-Keith-Orpheum merging of RCA with Keith and Orpheum cinema chains (RCA = Radio Corporation of America)
RL
Rugby League / Real Life (computer & online games, internet, etc.) / Republic of Lebanon (Lebanon’s IVR) / Reference Library
RM
Rural Municipality or Regional Municipality (Canadian)
rm.
Room
RMB
Roadside Mail Box
r.m.s.
Root mean square (Mathematics)
RMS
Royal Meteorological Society
RMT
National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers
RN
Registered Nurse (US) / Royal Navy (UK) / Republic of Niger (also IVR=International Vehicle Registration)
(abbreviation & acronym) Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents
ROTC
(abbreviation & acronym) Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (US)
ROU
Republic of Uruguay (also IVR)
ROV
Remotely operated vehicle
RP
Received Pronunciation / Reformed Presbyterian / Regius Professor / Republic of the Philippines (IVR) Royal Society of Portrait Printers/ Retinitis pigmentosa
RPB
Recognized professional body
RPC
Rail Passengers Council
RPG
Rocket-propelled grenade / Role-playing game / Report program generator (high-level commercial computer language program used in business)
RPI
Retail price index (UK)
rpm
Revolutions per minute
RPM
Retail or resale price maintenance
RPN
Reverse Polish notation
RPO
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
RPR
Rassemblement pour la Republique (French) a neo-Gaullist right-wing political party in France
RPS
Royal Photographic Society
rps
Revolutions per second
RPSGB
Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain
rpt
Repeat / Report
RPT
Registered physiotherapist / Registered professional turner
RPV
Remotely piloted vehicle (military) (a miniature aircraft)
R & R
Rescue and resuscitation (Medicine) / Rock and roll (R’n’R) / Rest and recreation (colloquial) (Military)
RR
Railroad (US) / Rural route (US) / Right Reserved
RRIF
Registered Retirement Income Fund (a tax-sheltered saving plan) (Canadian)
rRNA
Ribosomal RNA (Biochemistry)
RRP
Recommended retail price (Britain)
RRSP
Registered Retirement Savings Plan (Canadian)
RS
Royal Society / (a body of eminent scientists in UK)
Rs
Rupees
RSA
Republic of South Africa / Returned Services Association (NZ) / Royal Scottish Academy or Academician / Royal Society of Arts (officially the Royal Society for encouragement of Arts, Manufacturers and Commerce)
RSC
Royal Shakespeare Company / Royal Society of Chemistry
R.S.C.
Revised Statues of Canada (Canadian)
RSE
Royal Society of Edinburgh (a body of eminent scientists of Scotland)
RSFSR
Russian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic
RSI
Relative Strength Index (share market activity measure) / Repetitive strain or stress injury
RSJ
Rolled steel joist
RSL
Returned Services League (Australia) / Royal Society of Literature
RSM
Regimental Sergeant Major / Royal Society of Medicine / Royal School of Magic / Republic of San Marino (IVR)
RSNC
Royal Society for Nature Conservation (UK)
RSNO
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
RSNZ
Royal Society of New Zealand
RSPB
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds
RSPCA
Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
