L.C.C. London County Council, or Councillor.
L.C.J. Lord Chief Justice
L.J. Lord Justice.
L.L.A. Lady Literate in Arts.
LL.B. (Legum Baccalaureus), Bachelor of Laws.
LL.D. (Legum Doctor), Doctor of Laws.
LL.M. (Legum Magister), Master of Laws.
L.R.C.P. Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians.
L.R.C.S. Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons.
L.S.A. Licentiate of the Apothecaries' Society.
M.A. Master of Arts.
M.B. (Medicinae Baccalaureus), Bachelor of Medicine
M.C. Member of Congress.
M.D. (Medicinae Doctor), Doctor of Medicine.
M.Inst.C.E. Member of the Institute of Civil Engineers.
M.P. Member of Parliament.
M.R. Master of the Rolls.
M.R.C.P. Member of the Royal College of Physicians.
M.R.C.S. Member of the Royal College of Surgeons.
M.R.I.A. Member of the Royal Irish Academy.
Mus.B. Bachelor of Music.
Mus.D. Doctor of Music.
M.V.O. Member of the Victorian Order.
N.P. Notary Public.
O.M. Order of Merit.
P.C. Privy Councillor.
Ph.D. (Philosophiae Doctor), Doctor of Philosophy.
P.P. Parish Priest.
P.R.A. President of the Royal Academy.
R. (Rex, Regina), King, Queen.
R. & I. Rex et Imperator.
R.A. Royal Academician, Royal Artillery.
R.A.M. Royal Academy of Music.
R.E. Royal Engineers.
Reg. Prof. Regius Professor.
R.M. Royal Marines, Resident Magistrate.
R.N. Royal Navy.
S. or St. Saint.
S.S.C. Solicitor before the Supreme Courts of Scotland.
S.T.P. (Sacrosanctae Theologiae Professor), Professor of Sacred
Theology.
V.C. Vice-Chancellor, Victoria Cross.
V.G. Vicar-General.
V.S. Veterinary Surgeon.
W.S. Writer to the Signet [in Scotland]. Equivalent to Attorney
2. ABBREVIATIONS DENOTING MONIES, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES.
ac. acre. lb. or lb. (libra), pound (weight).
bar. barrel. m. or mi. mile, minute.
bus. bushel. m. minim.
c. cent. mo. month.
c. (or cub.) ft. &c. cubic foot,&c. na. nail.
cwt. hundredweight. oz. ounce.
d. (denarius), penny. pk. peck.
deg. degree. po. pole.
dr. drachm or dram. pt. pint.
dwt. pennyweight. q. (quadrans), farthing.
f. franc. qr. quarter.
fl. florin. qt. quart.
ft. foot. ro. rood.
fur. furlong. Rs.4 rupees.
gal. gallon. s. or / (solidus), shilling.
gr. grain. s. or sec. second.
h. or hr. hour. sc. or scr. scruple.
hhd. hogshead. sq. ft. &c, square foot, &c.
in. inch. st. stone.
kilo. kilometre. yd. yard.
L.,3 L. ,2 or l. (libra), pound (money).
3. MISCELLANEOUS ABBREVIATIONS.
A. Accepted.
A.C. (Ante Christum), Before Christ.
acc., a/c. or acct. Account.
A.D. (Anno Domini), In the year of our Lord.
A.E.I.O.U. Austriae est imperare orbi universo,5 or
Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich Unterthan.
Aet. or Aetat. (Aetatis, [anno]), In the year of his age.
A.H. (Anno Hegirae), In the year of the Hegira (the Mohammedan
era).
A.M. (Anno Mundi), In the year of the world.
A.M. (Ante meridiem), Forenoon.
Anon. Anonymous.
A.U.C. (Anno urbis conditae), In the year from the building
of the city (i.e. Rome).
A.V. Authorized version of the Bible.
b. born.
B.V.M. The Blessed Virgin Mary.
B.C. Before Christ.
c. circa, about.
C. or Cap. (Caput), Chapter.
C. Centigrade (or Celsius's) Thermometer.
cent.6 (Centnim), A hundred, frequently L. 100.
Cf. or cp. (Confer), Compare.
Ch. or Chap. Chapter.
C.M.S. Church Missionary Society.
Co. Company, County.
C.O.D. Cash on Delivery.
Cr. Creditor.
curt. Current, the present month.
d. died.
D.G. (Dei gratia), By the grace of God.
Do. Ditto, the same.
D.O.M. (Deo Optimo Maximo), To God the Best and Greatest.
Dr. Debtor.
D.V. (Deo volente), God willing.
E.& O.E. Errors and omissions excepted.
e.g. (Exempti gratia), For example.
etc. or &c. (Et caetera), And the rest; and so forth.
Ex. Example.
F. or Fahr. Fahrenheit's Thermometer.
fec. (Fecit), He made (or did) it.
fl. Flourished.
Fo. or Fol. Folio.
f.o.b. Free on board.
G.P.O. General Post Office.
H.M.S. His Majesty's Ship, or Service.
Ib. or Ibid. (Ibidem), In the same place.
Id. (Idem), The same.
ie. (Id est), That is.
I.H.S. A symbol for ``Jesus,', derived from the first three letters
of the Greek (I E S); the correct origin was lost
sight of, and the Romanized letters were then interpreted
erroneously as standing for Jesus, Hominum Salvator,
the Latin ``h'' and Greek long ``e'' being confused.
I.M.D.G. (In majorem Dei gloriam), To the greater glory of God.
Inf. (Infra), Below.
Inst. Instant, the present month.
I.O.U. I owe you.
i.q. (Idem quod), The same as.
k.t.l. (gr kai ta loipa) Et caetera, and the rest.
L. or Lib. (Liber), Book.
Lat. Latitude.
l.c. (Loco citato), In the place cited.
Lon. or Long. Longitude.
L.S. (Locus sigilli), The place of the seal.
Mem. (Memento), Remember, Memorandum.
MS. Manuscript. MSS. Manuscripts.
N.B. (Nota bene), Mark well; take notice.
N.B. North Britain (i.e. Scotland).
N.D. No date.
nem. con. (Nemine contradicente), No one contradicting.
No. (Numero), Number.
N.S. New Style.
N.T. New Testament.
ob. (Obiit), Died.
Obs. Obsolete.
O.H.M.S. On His Majesty's Service.
O.S. Old Style.
O.S.B. Ordo Sancti Benedicti (Benedictines).
O.T. Old Testament.
P. Page. Pp. Pages.
@ (Per), For; e.g. @ lb., For one pound.
Pinx. (Pinxit), He painted it.
P.M. (Post Meridiem), Afternoon.
P.O. Post Office, Postal Order.
P.O.O. Post Office Order.
P.P.C. (Pour prendre conge), To take leave.
P.R. Prize-ring.
prox. (Proximo [mense]), Next month.
P.S. Postscript.
Pt. Part.
p.t. or pro tem. (Pro tempore), For the time.
P.T.O. Please turn over.
Q., Qu., or Qy. Query; Question.
q.d. (Quasi dicat), As if he should say: as much as to say.
Q.E.D. (Quod erot demonstrandum), Which was to be demonstrated.
Q.E.F. (Quod erat faciendum), Which was to be done.
q.s. or quant. suff. (Quantum sufficit), As much as is
sufficient.
q.v. (Quod vide), Which see.
R. or @. (Recipe), Take.
sqrt. (=r. for radix), The sign of the square root.
R.I.P. (Requiescat in pace!), May he rest in peace!
R.S.V.P. (i Respondes s'il vous plait), please reply.
sc. (Scilicet), Namely; that is to say.
Sc. or Sculp. (Sculpsit), He engraved it.
S.D.U.K. Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.
seq. or sq., seqq. or sqq. (Sequens, sequenitia), The following.
S.J. Society of Jesus.
sp. (Sine prole), Without offspring.
S.P.C.K. Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge
S.P.G. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
S.T.D. }
S.T.B. }Doctor, Bachelor, Licentiate of Theology.
S.T.L. }
Sup. (Supra), Above.
s.v. (Sub voce), Under the word (or heading).
T.C.D. Trinity College, Dublin.
ult. (Ultimo [mense]), Last month.
U.S. United States.
U.S.A. United States of America.
v. (versus), Against.
v. or vid: (Vide), See.
viz. (Videlicet), Namely.
Xmas. Christmas. This X is a Greek letter, corresponding to Ch.
See also Graevius's Thesaurus Antiquitatum (1694, sqq.);
Nicolai's Tractatus de Sigils Veterum; Mommsen's Corpus
Inscriptionum Latinarum (1863, sqq.); Natalis de Wailly's
Paleographie (Paris, 1838); Alph. Chassant's Paleographie
(1854), and Dictionnaire des Abreviations (3rd ed.
1866); Campelli, Duzionario di Abbreviature (1899).
1 Describing the function of the triumviri monetales.
2 An archbishop or bishop, in writing his signature, substitutes
for his surname the name of his see; thus the prelates of
Canterbury, York, Oxford, London, &c., subscribe themselves
with their initials (Christian names only), followed by
Cantuar., Ebor., Oxon., Londin. (sometimes London.), &c.
3 Characters, not properly abbreviations, are used in the same
way; e.g. `` deg. '' for ``degrees, minutes, seconds'' (circular
measure); @, @, @ for ``ounces, drachms, scruples.'' @ is
probably to be traced to the written form of the z in ``oz.''
4 These forms (as well as $, the symbol for the
American dollar) are placed before the amounts.
5It is given to Austria to rule the whole earth.
The device of Austria, first adopted by Frederick III.
6``Per cent.'' is often signified by %, a form traceable to "100."
ABBREVIATORS, a body of writers in the papal chancery,
whose business was to sketch out and prepare in due form the
pope's bulls, briefs and consistorial decrees before these are
written out in extenso by the scriptores. They are first
mentioned in Extravagantes of John XXII. and of Benedict
XII. Their number was fixed at seventy-two by Sixtus IV.
From the time of Benedict XII. (1334-1342) they were classed
as de Parco majori or Praesidentiae majoris, and de
Parco minnori. The name was derived from a space in the
chancery, surrounded by a grating, in which the officials sat,
which is called higher or lower (major or minor) according to
the proximity of the seats to that of the vice-chancellor.
After the protonotaries left the sketching of the minutes
to the abbreviators, those de Parco majori, who ranked as
prelates, were the most important officers of the apostolic
chancery. By Martin V. their signature was made essential to
the validity of the acts of the chancery; and they obtained in
course of time many important privileges. They were suppressed
in 1908 by Pius X. and their duties were transferred to the
protonotarii apostolici participantes. (See CURIA ROMANA.)
ABDALLATIF, or ABD-UL-LATIF (1162-1231), a celebrated
physician and traveller, and one of the most voluminous writers
of the East, was born at Bagdad in 1162. An interesting
memoir of Abdallatif, written by himself, has been preserved
with additions by Ibn-Abu-Osaiba (Ibn abi Usaibia), a
contemporary. From that work we learn that the higher education
of the youth of Bagdad consisted principally in a minute and
careful study of the rules and principles of grammar, and in
their committing to memory the whole of the Koran, a treatise
or two on philology and jurisprudence, and the choicest Arabian
poetry. After attaining to great proficiency in that kind of
learning, Abdallatif applied himself to natural philosophy and
medicine. To enjoythe society of the learned, he went first
to Mosul (1189), and afterwards to Damascus. With letters of
recommendation from Saladin's vizier, he visited Egypt, where
the wish he had long cherished to converse with Maimonides,
``the Eagle of the Doctors,'' was gratified. He afterwards
formed one of the circle of learned men whom Saladin gathered
around him at Jerusalem. He taught medicine and philosophy at
Cairo and at Damascus for a number of years, and afterwards,
