Common Scientific Abbreviations & Full Forms

Abbreviations are widely used in everyday science to represent long scientific terms in a short and easy form. Understanding these abbreviations is essential for students preparing for exams, quizzes, and competitive MCQs, as they frequently appear in questions related to physics, chemistry, and general science. This table lists commonly used scientific abbreviations along with their complete meanings for quick learning and revision.

Abbreviation	Full Form / Meaning
ABM	Anti-Ballistic Missile
AC	Alternating Current/Air Conditioning
AEC	Atomic Energy Commission
ALT	Altitude
AM	Ante Maridiem (Before Noon/Midday)
AMP	Ampere
APTEC	All Pakistan Technology Engineers Council
ATM	Automated Teller Machine (Banking)
AW	Atomic Weight/ Asia Watch
ADH	Anti-diuretic Hormone
AWACS	Airborne Warning and Control System
AMU	Atomic Mass Unit
AIDS	Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome
ATP	Adenosine Tri Phosphate
BTU	British thermal Unit
BASIC	Beginner‘s All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code
BDS	Bachelor Of Dental Surgery/ Bomb Disposal Squad
BP	Blood Pressure/ Boiling Point/ Blue Print
BIOS	Basic Input Output System
BCG	Bacillus Calmette Guerin
BOT	Build, Operate and Transfer/Botulinum Toxin
C/A	Current Account
CFC	Chloro Fluoro Carbon
CPU	Central Processing Unit
CRO	Cathode Ray Oscilloscope
CRT	Cathode Ray Tube
CNS	Central Nervous System
CCTV	Closed-Circuit Television
CAA	Civil Aviation Authority
CABB	Centre Of Agricultural Biochemistry And Biotechnology
CAD	ComputerAided Design
Cal	Calorie
CD	Compact Disc/ Civil Defence/ Community Development
CD-ROM	Compact Disc Read-Only Memory
CECP	Cotton Export Corporation Of Pakistan
CHASNUPP	Chashma Nuclear Power Plant
CMCC	China Mobile Communications Corporation
COM	Computer Aided Manufacturing
COMSAT	Communications Satellite Corporation
COMSTECH	Council Of Scientific And Technology Cooperation Of Islamic Conference
CSIRO	Commonwealth Scientific And Industrial Research Organisation
CTBT	Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
CT-Scan	Computerized Axial Tomography Scanning
CNG	Compressed Natural Gas
DNA	Deoxyribonucleic Acid
DBS	Data Base Server/ Direct Broadcast Satellite
DVD	Dynamic Versatile Disc
EMF	Electro Motive force
ETT	Educational Telecommunications and Technology/ European Transaction on Telecommunication
ECAT	Engineering Colleges Admission Test
EDB	Engineering Development Board
EEG	Electroencephalogram
ENERCON	Energy Conservation Centre
EPA	Energy Protection Agency
EPD	Energy Protection Department
ESA	European Space Agency
ESRO	European Space Research Organisation
ECG	Electro Cardio Gram
FAT	File Allocation Table
FCPS	Fellow Of The Royal College Of Physicians And Surgeons
FM	Frequency Modulation
FMCT	Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty
FRCS	Fellow Of The Royal College Of Surgeons
GeV	Giga Electro Volt
GUT	Grand Unified Theory
GHz	Gigahertz
GB	Gigabyte
GMT	Greenwich Mean Time
HIV	Human Immune Deficiency Virus
HTML	Hypertext Mark-Up Language
HTTP	Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
HST	High Speed Technology/ High Speed Train (in UK)/Hubble Space Telescope
HDL	Hardware Description Language
IAEA	International Atomic Energy Agency (UN)
IBM	International Business Machine
IC	Integrated Circuit/ Intelligence Corps
ICBM	Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile
ICU	Intensive Care Unit
IEA	International Energy Agency
INSTRAW	International Research And Training Institute For The Advancement Of Women
INTELSAC	International Telecommunications Satellite Consortium
INTELSAT	International Telecommunications Satellite Organisation
IRBM	Intermediate Range ballistic Missile
ISP	Internet Service Provider
IT	Information Technology
ITB	Information Technology Board
JAXA	Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
KANUPP	Karachi Nuclear Power Plant
KAPCO	Kot Adu Power Company
kHz	Kilohertz
KV	Kilo Volt
kW	Kilowatt
KWh	Kilo Watt Hour
LPG	Liquefied Petroleum Gas
LASER	Light Amplification by Stimulated emission of Radiation
LAN	Local Area Network
LDL	Low Density Lipoprotein
LED	Light emitting Diode
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display
LONAR	Long Range Navigation
MAF	Million Acre Feet
MCV	Mean Corpuscular Volume
MASER	Microwave Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation
MeV	Mega Electron Volt/ Million Electron Volt/ Multi-experiment Viewer
MCAT	Medical Colleges Admission Test
MDS	Master In Dental Surgery
MNP	Mobile Number Probability
MRBM	Medium Range Ballistic Missile
MRCP	Member Of Royal College Of Physicians
MRCS	Member Of Royal College Of Surgeons
MRI	Magnetic Resonance Imaging
MS	Medical Superintendent
MSN	Microsoft Network
MW	Megawatt
NADRA	National Database And Registration Authority
NEPRA	National Electric Power Regulatory Authority
NM	Nautical Mile
NMD	National Missile Defence
NPT	Non-Nuclear Proliferation Treaty
NRA	Nuclear Regulatory Authority
NWD	Nation Wide Dialling
NTP	Network Time Protocol/ Normal Temperature and Pressure
NPN	Negative Positive Negative
OGRA	Oil And Gas Regulatory Authority
OGDC	Oil And Gas Development Corporation
PVC	Poly vinyl Chloride
PTFE	Poly Tetra Fluoro Ethylene
pm	Post Meridian
PEMRA	Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority
PTA	Pakistan Telecommunication Authority
PNP	Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase
RBC	Red Blood Cells/Corpuscles
RNA	Ribonucleic Acid
RAM	Random Access Memory
ROM	Read Only Memory
RQ	Respiratory Quotient
RADAR	Radio Detection And Ranging
SARS	Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
STP	Standard Temperature And Pressure/Shielded Twisted Pair/Sodium Tripolyphosphate/Spanning Tree Protocol
SALT	Strategic Arms Limitation Talks
SLV	Satellite Launch Vehicle
SMS	Short Message Service
SNGPL	Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited
SONAR	Sound Navigation And Ranging
SSGPL	Sui Southern Gas Pipeline Limited
STD	Subscriber‘s Trunk Dialling
STM	Subscriber Identification
SUPARCO	Space And Upper Atmosphere Research Committee (Pakistan)
TNT	Tri Nitro Toluen
TB	Tubercle Bacillus/ Tuberculosis
UHF	Ultra High Frequency
UNAEC	United Nations Atomic Energy Commission
UNESCO	United Nations Education, Scientific And Cultural Organisation
VCD	Video Compact Disc
VHF	Very High Frequency
WWW	World Wide Web
WAN	Wide Area Network
WAP	Wireless Application Protocol
WAPDA	Water And Power Development Authority
WHO	World Health Organisation
WMD	Weapons Of Mass Destruction
WWF	World Wildlife Fund
ZPG	Zero Population Growth