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 letter ‘W’
W
| W | Watt (SI unit) / Wolframium (Latin) = tungsten (Chemistry) |
| W / w. | Weak (Physics) / Welsh / West / Western / Wicket(s) (cricket) / Women or women’s / Won (Korean currency) / Won (in games) |
| w | Week / Weight / Wide (cricket) / Width / Wife / With |
| WA | Washington (US state) / West Africa / Western Australia / Western Australian |
| WAAC/Waac | (acronym) The Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (formerly WRAC = Women’s Royal Army Corps) |
| WAAF/Waaf | (acronym) The Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (formerly WRAF (acronym) = Women’s Royal Air Force) |
| WAC | Women’s Army Corps (US) / The Women’s Action Coalition |
| WACA | (acronym) Western Australian Cricket Association / The cricket ground of this Association in Perth |
| WADA | (acronym) World Anti-Doping Agency |
| WAG | (West Africa) The Gambia (IVR=International Vehicle Registration) / Writers and Artists Guild |
| WAGs | Wives and girlfriends (colloquial) (of sports players, etc.) |
| WAIS | Wide area information server(s) (Computing) |
| WAL | (West Africa) Sierra Leone (IVR=International Vehicle Registration) |
| Wal. | Walloon |
| WAN | Wide area network (Computing) / West Africa Nigeria (Nigeria) (IVR) |
| WAP | Wireless Application Protocol (accessing internet on mobiles) |
| Wb | Weber(s) (SI unit) (Physics) |
| WBA | World Boxing Association |
| WBC | World Boxing Council |
| WBO | World Boxing Organization |
| WC | Water closet / West(ern) Central (district of London) |
| wc | Water closet / Without charge |
| WCC | World Council of Churches |
| W/Cdr | Wing-Commander |
| WCT | World Championship Tennis |
| WCTU | Women’s Christian Temperance Union |
| w/d | Wheel drive (e.g.: 2-w/d or 4-w/d) |
| WD | Works Department / War Department (formerly) / (Windward Islands) Dominica (IVR) |
| WDA | Welsh Development Agency |
| WDC | Woman Detective Constable |
| WDS | Women Detective Sergeant |
| WEA | Workers’ Educational Association |
| w.e.f./wef | With effect from (Britain) |
| WEU | Western European Union |
| wf / w.f. | Wrong font (Printing) |
| wff | Well-formed formula |
| WFP | World Food Programme (a United Nations body) |
| WFTC | Working Families Tax Credit |
| WFTU | World Federation of Trade Unions |
| wg | Water gauge / wire gauge |
| WG | Grenada (Windward Islands) (IVR) |
| Wg Cdr | Wing Commander |
| WHL | Western Hockey League |
| WHO | (abbreviation & acronym) World Health Organization |
| WI | West Indies / Women’s Institute / Wisconsin (US state) |
| WJEC | Welsh Joint Education Committee |
| wk | Week (wks – plural) / Weak / Work |
| WKB | Wentzel–Kramers–Brillouin (Physics) (used in the Schrödinger equation) |
| WL | (Windward Islands) St. Lucia (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) |
| WLA | Women’s Land Army (broke-up in 1950) |
| WLAN | Wireless local area network (Computing) |
| WLTM | Would like to meet (often seen in personal messages/ads) |
| Wm | William |
| WMD | Weapon(s) of mass destruction |
| WML | Wireless Mark-up Language (Computing) |
| WMO | World Meteorological Organization |
| WNW | West-north-west |
| WO | Walkover / Warrant Officer / War Office (formerly) |
| w/o | Without |
| wo | (variant spelling of) whoa or who or ho |
| WOC/WOCS | Waiting on cement (to set) |
| WoO | Werke ohne Opuszahl (German) = works (by Beethoven) without an opus number (prefix to an assigned number) |
| WP | Warsaw Pact / weather permitting (also wp) / Word processing or word processer (also wp) |
| Wp | Worship or Worshipful |
| WPA | Works Progress Administration (US) |
| Wpb/w.p.b. | Wastepaper basket (informal) |
| WPBSA | World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (also known as WS = World Snooker) |
| WPC | Woman Police Constable (UK) |
| Wpfl | Worshipful |
| wpm / w.p.m. | Words per minute |
| WR | Western Region |
| WRAAC | Women’s Royal Australian Army Corps (formerly) |
| WRAAF | Women’s Royal Australian Air Force (formerly) |
| WRAC | (acronym) Women’s Royal Army Corps (formerly) |
| WRAF | (acronym) Women’s Royal Air Force (formerly) (in UK until 1994) |
| WRANS | Women’s Royal Australian Naval Service (Australia) (formerly) |
| WRI | Women’s Rural Institute |
| WRNS | (abbreviation& acronym) Women’s Royal Naval Service (UK) (formerly) |
| WRP | Workers Revolutionary Party |
| wrt / w.r.t. | With respect (or regard) to |
| WRVS | Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (UK) |
| WS | Western Samoa (IVR = International Vehicle Registration) / Writer to the Signet |
| WSPU | Women’s Social and Political Union |
| WSW | West-south-west |
| wt | Weight |
| WT or W/T | Wireless telegraphy |
| WTO | World Trade Organization |
| WV | West Virginia (US state; also W.Va.) |
| WWE | World Wrestling Entertainment |
| WWF | Worldwide Fund for Nature (formerly; WWF=World Wildlife Fund) / World Wrestling Federation (now known as WWE) |
| WWI/WW I | World War I (US) |
| WWII/WW II | World War II (US) |
| WWW/www | World Wide Web / World Weather Watch |
| WX | Women’s extra-large (size) |
| WY | Wyoming (US state; also Wy.) |
| Wy | Way (in street names) |
| WYSIWYG / wysiwyg | What you see (i.e. on the screen) is what you get (on the printout) |
