| Abbreviations in general use, such as ‘etc.’, ‘i.e.’, and ‘p.m.’, are listed and explained as entries in the dictionary itself. | |
| Common | |
| abbrev. | abbreviation |
| Aborig. | Aboriginal |
| adj. | adjective |
| adv. | adverb |
| Afr. | African |
| Afrik. | Afrikaans |
| alt. | alteration, altered |
| Amer. | American |
| appar. | apparently |
| Arab. | Arabic |
| assoc. | associated, association |
| aux. | auxiliary |
| b. | born |
| back-form. | back-formation |
| C (as in C18, C19, etc.) | century |
| Canad. | Canadian |
| cent. | century |
| cf. | compare with |
| Chin. | Chinese |
| colloq. | colloquial |
| comb. form | combining form |
| compar. | comparative |
| conj. | conjunction |
| contr. | contraction |
| corresp. | corresponding |
| Dan. | Danish |
| det. | determiner |
| dial. | dialect |
| dimin. | diminutive |
| Du. | Dutch |
| E. | East |
| eccles. | ecclesiastical |
| Engl. | English |
| exclam. | exclamation |
| fem. | feminine |
| Fr. | French |
| freq. | frequently |
| Ger. | German |
| Gk | Greek |
| Gmc | Germanic |
| Heb. | Hebrew |
| imper. | imperative |
| Ind. | Indian |
| Indo-Eur. | Indo-European |
| infin. | infinitive |
| interrog. | interrogative |
| Ir. | Irish |
| Ital. | Italian |
| L. | Latin |
| Latin Amer. Sp. | Latin American Spanish |
| lit. | literally |
| masc. | masculine |
| MDu. | Middle Dutch |
| ME | Middle English |
| med. | medieval |
| Mex. Sp. | Mexican Spanish |
| Mid. High Ger. | Middle High German |
| Mid. Low Ger. | Middle Low German |
| mod. | modern |
| n. | noun |
| N. | North |
| naut. | nautical |
| neg. | negative |
| neut. | neuter |
| north. Engl. | northern English |
| Norw. | Norwegian |
| obs. | obsolete |
| OE | Old English |
| OFr. | Old French |
| ON | Old Norse |
| Old North. Fr. | Old Northern French |
| orig. | originally |
| part. | participle |
| perh. | perhaps |
| Pers. | Persian |
| phr. | phrase |
| phrs | phrases |
| pl. | plural |
| pop. | popular |
| Port. | Portuguese |
| possess. | possessive |
| postpos. | postpositive |
| predet. | predeterminer |
| prep. | preposition |
| pres. | present |
| prob. | probably |
| pron. | pronoun |
| pronunc. | pronunciation |
| ref. | reference |
| rel. | related |
| Russ. | Russian |
| S. | South |
| Sc. | Scottish |
| Scand. | Scandinavian |
| sing. | singular |
| sl. | slang |
| Sp. | Spanish |
| Swed. | Swedish |
| symb. | symbol |
| Turk. | Turkish |
| ult. | ultimately |
| usu. | usually |
| v. | verb |
| var. | variant |
| vars | variants |
| W. | West |
