Abbreviations

1. A, adult, designating films suitable for exhibition to adult audiences; A., a., ampere; A, atom(ic); A, in £A, Australian; Å., Ångström; A.A., Alcoholics Anonymous (orig. U.S.); also, a member of this organization; A.A., A.-A., anti-aircraft; A.A., Automobile Association; A.A.A., Amateur Athletic Association; A.A.A., American Automobile Association; A.A.F., Auxiliary Air Force; A.A.M., air-to-air missile; A. and R. (see quots.); A.B., Bachelor of Arts; A.B.C., Aerated Bread Company; A.B.C., Australian Broadcasting Corporation (formerly Commission); also, † Australian Broadcasting Company; A.B.C.A., Army Bureau of Current Affairs, an organization which provided troops with information about current affairs during the 1939–45 war; ABM, anti-ballistic missile (orig. U.S.); cf. I.C.B.M. s.v. I III; ABS, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene; freq. attrib., esp. designating a group of metallizable plastics consisting of a rubbery phase dispersed in a hard phase and with uses that include tubing, parts of car bodies, and domestic articles; A.C., A/C, aircraftman; A.C., a.c., alternating current; A.C.C., anodal (or anodic) closure contraction; A.C.C.M., (also with pronunc. ˈækəm), Advisory Council for the Church's Ministry; AC/DC, AC-DC [humorously after A.C. and D.C. (alternating and direct electrical current): see above and D III. 3] slang (orig. U.S.), of a person: bisexual; A.C.L.U., American Civil Liberties Union; A.C.P., African, Caribbean, and Pacific (countries), spec. the signatories to the Lomé Convention (see quot. 19752); A.C.S., antireticular cytotoxic serum; A.C.T., Australian Capital Territory; A.C.T.H., adrenocorticotrop(h)ic hormone; A.C.T.T., Association of Cinematograph, Television, and Allied Technicians; A.C.T.U., Australian (formerly also Australasian) Council of Trade Unions; A.C.V., air-cushion vehicle (see air-cushion (b) s.v. air n.1 B. II); A.C.W., aircraftwoman; A.D.C., aide-de-camp, hence A.D.C.-ship, aide-de-campship; A.D.F., automatic direction finder; A.D.G.B., Air Defence of Great Britain; ADH, antidiuretic hormone; A.D.P., automatic data processing; A.D.(S.), autograph document (signed); A.E.F., American Expeditionary Forces; cf. B.E.F. s.v. B III. 1; A.E.U., Amalgamated Engineering Union; A.F., a.f., audio frequency; A.F.C., Air Force Cross; A.F.M., Air Force Medal; A.F.S., Auxiliary Fire Service; A.F.V., armoured fighting vehicle; A.G., Adjutant-General; A.G., Attorney-General; A.G.M., annual general meeting; A.G.R., advanced gas-cooled reactor; A.H., Anno Hegiræ (see hegira); A.I., Air Interception; A.I., A.I.D., A.I.H., artificial insemination (by donor, husband); AI, artificial intelligence; A.I.D., Aeronautical Inspection Directorate (in quot. 1918 Department); A.I.D. (pron. eɪd) (U.S.), Agency for International Development, established in 1961 to give economic aid to underdeveloped countries; A.I.F., Australian Imperial Force; AIM (pron. eɪm) (U.S.), American Indian Movement; a.k.a. (colloq., orig. U.S.), also known as; A.K.C., American Kennel Club; A level, Advanced level (of the General Certificate of Education examination); A.L.P., Australian Labour Party; A.L.(S.), autograph letter (signed); ALU (Computing), arithmetic and logic(al) unit; A.M., Albert Medal; A.M., amplitude modulation; cf. F.M. s.v. F III. 3 a; A.M.A., American Medical Association; A.M.D.G. [L. ad maiorem Dei gloriam], to the greater glory of God (esp. as a motto of the Jesuits); A.M.G., Allied Military Government; A.N.C., African National Congress; A.N.(S.), autograph note (signed); A.O.N.B., area of outstanding natural beauty; cf. S.S.S.I. s.v. S I. 4 a; A.P., Associated Press; APB (U.S.), all-points bulletin (see all III); A.P.C. (Austral. and U.S.), aspirin (= acetylsalicylic acid), phenacetin, and caffeine, used as an analgesic or antipyretic; a mixture, tablet, or capsule containing these; A.P.I., American Petroleum Institute (used spec. with reference to a scale for expressing the relative density of oil, developed by the Institute, in which higher values correspond to lower densities); APL [now usu. expanded as ‘a programming language’, but see quot. 1966], a high-level computer programming language developed by IBM in the mid-1960s; APR, annual(ized) percentage rate (of interest on money lent on credit); A.P.T., advanced passenger train; ARC, AIDS-related complex; A.R.P. (see air-raid); ASA (also with pronunc. ˈeɪsə), American Standards Association (used spec. in Photogr. with reference to a standard scale for rating film speed); A.S.A.P., a.s.a.p. (also with pronunc. ˈeɪsæp), as soon as possible; A.S.B., Alternative Service Book; A.S.C., Army Service Corps; ASEAN, Asean (pron. ˈeɪsɪən), Association of South-East Asian Nations; ASH (pron. æʃ), Action on Smoking and Health; ASL, American Sign Language; A.S.M., air-to-surface missile; A.S.M., assistant stage-manager; A/S.R.S., Air-Sea Rescue Service; A.S.T.M.S. (also with pronunc. ˈæstəmz), Association of Scientific, Technical, and Managerial Staffs; A.S.V., air(craft) to surface vessel; A.T.A., Air Transport Auxiliary; A.T.&T. (U.S.), American Telephone and Telegraph Company; A.T.C., Air Traffic Control; A.T.C., Air Training Corps; A.T.C., Automatic Train Control; ATM (Banking, orig. U.S.), automated (orig. automatic) teller machine; A.T.S., animal tub-sized; ATV, all-terrain vehicle; A.T.V., Associated Television; Å.U., A.U., Ångström Unit; A.U. = astronomical unit s.v. astronomical a. 3; AUEW, Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers; AV, alternative vote; A.V., Authorized Version (of the Bible); A.V.H., initials of Hungarian secret police, also A.V.O.; A.V.M., Air Vice-Marshal; A.W.O.L., absent without leave (orig. U.S.); A.W.U., Australian Workers' Union; AZT, azidothymidine.